MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama held William Carey to 35.1 percent shooting Monday night at the Mitchell Center, and four Jaguars, including two freshmen, scored in double figures in a 76-53 win.
William Carey entered the game ranked No. 10 in the NAIA preseason poll and averaging 92 points through its first two games.
Second-Half Defense Pulls Jaguars Away
The Crusaders closed the first half on a 7-2 run to cut South Alabama’s lead to 38-28 at halftime. The Jaguars then allowed only one field goal in the first 5:43 of the second half, and William Carey shot 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) after the break.
The Crusaders pulled within single digits once in the second half, but South Alabama answered with a 12-3 run to go up by 18. Junior Dionte Ferguson started the run with a dunk, and freshman Austin Karazsia scored four straight points during an 8-0 stretch. A 13-5 run late in the game pushed the lead to 25 with a minute remaining.
Freshmen Set Career Highs
Freshmen T.J. Johnson and Ken Williams set career highs with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Johnson came off the bench to shoot 5-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range. Williams went 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc after entering the game 1-of-14 from 3-point range this season.
Sophomore Barrington Stevens III scored all 10 of his points in the second half, going 4-of-4 from the field, and added three assists.
Senior Augustine Rubit posted his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, though he made 2 of 12 free throws. South Alabama shot 14-of-30 from the line as a team.
Graves Pleased With Intensity
“I thought we did a good job of playing with a lot of intensity early on,” South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said. “We came out and really defended well early. One of our goals was to really improve in our transition defense and for the most part we did that tonight. So that was certainly a step in the right direction from the game with Texas to now.”
Graves said the Jaguars still need to put together complete games.
“We just need to continue to put together more of a full 40 minutes of action,” he said. “We still have lulls in our game and part of that is having a young team and part of that is learning a new system. At the same time, the focus is each and every possession, you have to play it like it’s your last possession and we’re getting better at that but we still have a long ways to go.”
Graves said he was not concerned about the free-throw shooting, noting that the Jaguars shot 80 percent from the line against Texas. “It’s one of those things that happens, you don’t want it to happen,” he said.
Rubit Climbs Record Books
Rubit moved into fifth place in Sun Belt Conference history with 923 career rebounds. He is 10 rebounds shy of fourth place and 11 shy of third.
He also became the eighth player in school history to make 500 career field goals, and his two blocked shots moved him past Ronald Douglas into fifth place on the school’s career blocks list.
CBE Classic Next
South Alabama hosts the CBE Classic this weekend at the Mitchell Center. The Jaguars open against Southern Miss at 7:05 p.m.
