Jags fall in overtime at home to Arkansas State
South Alabama led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but Arkansas State fought back to force overtime where the Jaguars fell 63-60 in their conference opener.
The Jags dropped their sixth consecutive game while the Red Wolves won their fourth-straight.
Trailing by three points in the final seconds of overtime, but two 3-point attempts missed their mark which would have forced a second overtime period.
Dionte Ferguson set a new career high with 18 points and five blocks. He earned his second double-double of the season with a game-high-tying 13 rebounds.
ASU used a 15-4 run over a 10-minute stretch while holding the Jaguars to only 1-of-10 shooting from the floor and forcing eight turnovers. The Red Wolves were 6-of-13 on the other end of the court to tie the game at 45-each with 6:13 left.
“What a tremendous start to the Sun Belt season,” Jaguar head coach Matthew Graves said after the game. “That was a great game. I thought Arkansas State played well. I thought we did some really good things. Both teams really defended their butts off. Anytime teams are held to under 40 percent on field goals, you give yourself a chance. They defended. They defended. It came down to somebody making a play or two. [PJ] Hardwick banked in a shot, then [Cameron] Golden ended up hitting an off balance three as the shot clock expired.
“A lot of different things happened, but I am really proud of our effort tonight. We stayed together and played hard. We played through some adversity, and when it came down to it we didn’t make enough shots from the perimeter. We had really good looks and sometimes you can’t control whether you make the shot. You can control whether it is a good shot. We took good shots, for the most part, we just didn’t make enough of them tonight.”
“We stole the win, but you have to give our team credit for having that toughness and the grit to keep fighting and keep coming back and making them miss and get some rebounds,” Arkansas State head coach John Brady said. “Then we made enough big plays to win it.”
The Jags (2-9, 0-1 SBC) hits the road for their next two SBC games with the first against Texas-Arlington on Saturday at 7:15pm then the next on Monday, January 5 at Arkansas-Little Rock with a 7:30pm tip.