Jags Down ULM 71-56
Dre Conner finished with 10 assists against ULM. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
The South Alabama Jaguar men’s basketball team used a strong second half showing to notch a 71-56 win over Louisiana-Monroe. This win propelled the Jags into sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt Conference Eastern Division with a 6-3 record, an overall record of 9-8 for the season and evening their home conference record at 2-2 this season. ULM falls to 3-11 overall and 2-6 in Sun Belt play.
Freddie Goldstein nailed a three pointer just before halftime to tie the game a 27 apiece as teams headed into their locker rooms. But the Jags would open the second half with a 13-2 run to take control of the game. THey would make it’s first four shots from the floor after halftime and shoot 62.5 percent from the floor in the second half.
“Obviously (it was a) much better effort in the second half,” interim head coach Jeff Price said. “I’ve just talked so much at halftime, like I do before the games, that we have shooting droughts and we have to find a way to manufacture points. It was a glaring difference in the second half with our defensive intensity. We’re capable of doing that every night if we just get our mind to it.”
Goldstein and Antoine Allen combined for 11 points and two three-pointers to start the second half with the 13-2 run. Goldstein would end the game with five three-pointers.
ULM would work to get within five points on four different occasions in the second half. The final run came at the 7:27 mark. South Alabama would respond with a 9-1 run to put the game away.
Augustine Rubit would score 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and fall one rebound shy of another double-double on the season. This moved Rubit into 11th on the all-time scoring list and 17th in the all-time rebounding list.
“Regardless of the double teams, we keep going at him and that’s what we need to do because he continues to get better at kicking it out and we rotate one over and get shots,” Price explained. “It happened several times in the first half with plus-ones. We just have to get those shots. He’s just a warrior. Aug battles and battles. He gets slapped and hammered and grabbed and just keeps going after it. He had a huge three-point play in the second half where he just builds his way to the basket. He’s just doing a great job and we just need to continue to play off of him.”
Goldstein would finish the game with 16 points, going 5-of-10 from outside the arc. Javier Carter would tie a career high with 10 rebounds.
Dre Conner would lead all player with a personal-best nine assists, which is the most by a Jaguar player since Daon Merritt against FIU on March 1, 2008.
“Dre’s a tough kid and he is playing well for us right now,” Price said. “I continue to preach that the more he plays the better he will get. He had nine assists tonight and I thought he controlled the game well. He’s just going to keep getting better. There’s a lot of concern about a point guard play early, but with point guards it just takes time. I think he is starting to come into his own.”
Mychal Ammons would finish with 10 points, including the final four points of the game that would cap the game off with an exclamation. A slam dunk which was followed shorty by a windmill dunk. ULM would inbounds the ball and let the clock run out after that.
South Alabama will get a week off before returning to the court to host Western Kentucky on Thursday, January 24th in a Sun Belt Conference Eastern Division clash. The game will be televised on ESPN3.com and as part of the ESPN Full Court Package.