MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama basketball rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat Troy 53-49 on Saturday night, closing the regular season with a 17-11 record and the No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Elsewhere in Jaguar athletics, the softball team swept the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, the baseball team suffered its first two losses of the season at College of Charleston, the football team continued spring practice and the women’s basketball team prepared for the Sun Belt Tournament.
Men’s Basketball: Loss at Western Kentucky, Win at Troy
South Alabama fell 79-73 at Western Kentucky on Thursday night in Bowling Green, Ky. The Jaguars trailed by as many as 14 points and rallied late but could not close the gap.
Augustine Rubit finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Javier Carter recorded his second consecutive double-double with a season-high 14 points and 10 rebounds, adding six blocks and three steals.
In the regular-season finale Saturday, South Alabama played its first game in Troy’s new Trojan Arena. The Jaguars trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and by nine at halftime before outscoring Troy 34-21 after the break for a 53-49 win.
Carter posted his third consecutive double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He also had five blocked shots, including one with 12 seconds remaining that preserved a three-point South Alabama lead. Rubit added 13 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double, and Antoine Allen scored nine of his 12 points in the second half.
South Alabama finished 17-11 overall and 14-6 in Sun Belt play. Troy, which lost its fifth straight game, fell to 11-20 overall and 6-14 in the conference.
As the No. 3 seed, South Alabama will face the winner of the game between No. 6 seed Western Kentucky and No. 11 seed Louisiana-Monroe at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Convention Center Court in Hot Springs, Ark. In the same half of the bracket, No. 7 seed Florida Atlantic and No. 10 seed Troy meet in the first round, with the winner facing No. 2 seed Arkansas State at 9 p.m. Saturday at Summit Arena. The two quarterfinal winners will meet in the semifinals at 9 p.m. Sunday.
Women’s Basketball: Sun Belt Tournament Opener Friday
South Alabama’s women’s basketball team, the No. 7 seed, opens the Sun Belt Tournament against No. 10 seed Troy at 2 p.m. Friday at the Convention Center in Hot Springs. The winner advances to face No. 2 seed Arkansas-Little Rock at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Summit Arena.
In the same bracket, No. 6 seed North Texas plays No. 11 seed Louisiana-Lafayette, with the winner facing No. 3 seed Western Kentucky on Saturday. The semifinals are set for Sunday.
Football: Sherrer Focuses on Communication This Spring
South Alabama football held its second practice of the spring on Saturday morning and its third on Sunday afternoon. Three new coaches are working with the defense, including first-year defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer.
Rather than installing a new playbook, Sherrer is concentrating on communication, new signals and terminology so that players and coaches are on the same page.
“The goal is for the new staff to communicate what they want out of the players, and for the players to understand what they [the coaches] want,” head coach Joey Jones said. “We want the players to come out of the spring totally understanding what our defensive staff wants them to do. The interaction seems to be extremely good. Our players appear to have a great feel for what the coaches want. They like the new coaches and understand they know what they are talking about and they have a great relationship off the field. It’s been real good for us.”
Sherrer was hired before the start of the spring semester, and NCAA rules allowed him limited offseason meeting time with players.
“I was in the first team meeting when they got back from the winter break, so they knew who I was,” Sherrer said. “A lot of them came by with questions, and we were allowed a couple of hours per week in the offseason to meet with them so we were able to get in there and teach them a little bit. The toughest part was getting the staff acclimated to what we are going to do because we all came from different directions. But so far it has gone well. The players have adapted to it and are eager to learn.”
Sherrer pointed to returning starters Bryson James, Clifton Crews, Enrique Williams, Romelle Jones, Darrius Morrow and Tyrell Pearson as players with experience and leadership ability. The plan is to build a basic foundation first and add complexity to the scheme through spring practice and fall camp.
“We want to have a good understanding of the defense and the scheme that we want to run,” Sherrer said. “We want to evaluate the players that are out there and see who fits the scheme and make sure we’re doing the right things. The most important part is that we want to come away with the right fundamentals, defense striking with their hands, tackling the right way and pursuing the football.”
The Jaguars return to the practice field at 6 a.m. Tuesday for a two-hour session.
Softball: Lady Jaguars Sweep Magic City Classic
After suffering their second loss of the season Thursday against No. 1 Alabama, the Lady Jaguars won all four games at the Magic City Classic in Birmingham. South Alabama beat Murray State 1-0 on Friday, then defeated Murray State 8-6 and UAB 8-2 on Saturday before closing with a 4-0 win over Samford on Sunday.
Third baseman Haley Fagan hit a grand slam over the center-field wall on a 1-0 pitch in the win over Samford.
Brittany Fowler was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, Farish Beard was named co-Most Valuable Pitcher, and Julie Moss and Brittany Campbell were named to the all-tournament team.
South Alabama (17-2) hosts Nicholls State on Wednesday after beating the Colonels 7-1 earlier this season in Louisiana. Next weekend, the Lady Jaguars travel to the Long Beach State Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., where they will face UC Santa Barbara, Idaho State, UCLA, Utah and host Long Beach State. After a week off, they open Sun Belt play at home against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Baseball: First Losses of the Season at Charleston
The baseball team lost for the first time this season Friday night, falling 12-2 at College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. The Jaguars won the second game of the series 3-0 before losing 3-2 on Sunday.
South Alabama (10-2) plays at Nicholls State on Tuesday in Thibodaux, La., at 6:30 p.m., then hosts Southern Miss on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
