Jaguars Woes At Home Continue With Loss To Troy
Troy connected on 16 of 30 shots from 3-point range in the Jaguar loss. Kenny Ware lead the way for Troy hitting 6-8 of the 3-pointers and finishing with a career-best 20 points. He was one of five Troy players in double figures. This loss dropped the Jags to 0-3 at home against Sun Belt Conference opponents, which is a stark contrast to last year when USA was 9-0 at home against SBC opponents during the regular season.
Troy opened the game with a 15-6 run in the first three-plus minutes. The Jags then went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to a single point at 17-16 with about 12 minutes left in the first half.
However, Troy would then go on a 20-2 run over the next 5:20 to break the game wide open for the Trojans. Three players combined to make give 3-pointers during the stretch, three of them by Ware. That would make the lead 37-18 when the run was over. But the Jaguars would regroup and held the Trojans without a basket for the last 3:07 of the half while scoring seven points to close the Trojans lead to 47-29 at halftime.
The lead would fluctuate from 16-21 points during the first six minutes of the second half. The Jags would get close to within 18 with 11-38 left but Troy would score the next 11 consecutive points in a 1:42 span to put the game away for the Trojans.
Bryan Sherrer would lead the Jaguars with 14 points on 4-8 shooting and connecting on his only attempt from 3-point range and hitting all five attempts from the free-throw line. Other Jags in double figures scoring were Domonic Tilford with 11 and Ronald Douglas with 10.
Five Trojans scored in double figures. Kenny Ware scored 20 points on 6-10 shooting going 6-8 from outside the arc and hitting both free-throw attempts. He also added six rebounds all on the defensive side. Richard Dekl scored 17, Brandon Hazzard scored 14, Travis Lee scored 11 and Mario Telfair socred 10.
While USA out-scored Troy 28-20 in the paint but Troy would leal all of the other categories: 18-9 pts off T/O, 10-7 2nd chance pts, 13-2 Fast break pts, and bench scoring 46-29.
Troy led the entire game and their largest lead was 33 points at the 8:09 mark in the second half. The Jaguars really need to find some sort of spark at the Mitchell Center. All Jaguar fans need to come out and support Coach Arrow, Coach Pietre and both the Men’s and Women’s teams. Both teams are coming down the stretch and they need a good push to finish out the SBC schedule.
Go Jags!
Lady Jags End Three Game Losing Streak
The University of South Alabama Lady Jags end their losing streak at three games, defeating the Troy Trojans 68-60. The Jaguars record improves to 12-5 (3-3 SBC) while Troy falls to 8-8 on the season and 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.
In contrast with the last few games, the Lady Jags got off to a good start to match their opponent. For the first 11 minutes of the first half both teams kept it close until Shakria Nettles broke the 17-17 tie and started a 7-2 run for the Jags. It led to USA opening up their largest lead of the half, 26-19. Troy would battle back to pull within three point at halftime, 28-25.
The Trojans would come out and score four points quickly in to begin the second half taking the lead at 29-28. Ra’Shawna Sippio would put the Jags on her back and score the next 11 points to retake the lead 41-36 with under 15 minutes to go.
The Trojans would then score 11 points unanswered over a two and a half minute span and retaking the lead from USA.
USA would then start another run of their own going on a 10-0 run, retaking the lead once again for the Jags at 51-47.
Troy, not giving up, battled back again to retake the lead for what would be their final time at 54-53. USA would close out the game with a 15-6 run and the Jaguar defense would hold strong only allowing Troy to shoot 2-15 over the that run.
Ra’Shawna Sippio would lead the Jags in scoring with 22 points on 9-19 shooting and hitting half of her 8 shots from the charity stripe. She would also come down with 11 rebounds to achieve her fifth double-double of her career.
Shakira Nettles and Jessica Starling would be the only other jags in double digits. Nettles would score 16 points on 6-12 shooting, going 3-7 from 3-point range and hitting one of her two free-throw attempts. Jessica Starling scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting while going 2-5 from outside the arc and hitting both of her two free-throw attempts.
The Trojans’ Kylie Morrissy would lead all scorers with 28 points going 10-22 and hitting 1-3 3-point attempts but hitting all 7 free-throw attempts. Donette McNair would score 9 points but would come down with 15 rebounds, 10 of them on the defensive side.
USA scored 32 points in the paint compared to Troy’s 22. USA would also out-shoot Troy 44%-33% for the game and 35%-31% from 3-point range. But Troy would hit 9-10 from the free-throw line while USA struggled hitting only 9-16.
The Lady Jaguars will play next when they visit Arkansas State on Sunday with tip-off scheduled for 2:05pm.
Jaguar Men Win Big At Louisiana-Monroe
Jaguars win big, 90-57, while both DeAndre Coleman and Brandon Davis come away double-double performances. Coach Arrow decided to try a big starting lineup, using three forwards, with good results.
Brandon Davis hit all seven attempts from the floor in the first half, scoring 19 in the period. After a media time-out with just under 8 minutes to go, the Jags were down 32-38. Davis then scored 7 of the Jaguars 14 points to take the lead going into the locker room up 42-37. While Lawrence Gilbert would score 14 and Jarvis Hill would score 12 going 4-5 from 3-point range in the first half for the Warhawks.
The Jaguars would open the second half with a 13-0 run, which would be a 16-0 run spanning the last 3-point field goal by DeAndrae Ross to end the first half that would put USA up 54-37 with 15:50 to go in the game. USA kept the engine going by pushing the lead out to 65-44 with over 10 minutes to go.
Domonic Tilford would further push the lead out to 30 with a 3-pointer with eight minutes left and the Jags largest lead (37) would come with just under five minutes to play on a Tilford layup, 85-48. Then both teams would cruise to the final score of 90-57, an impressive 33 point victory.
Brandon Davis was a perfect 11-11 from the floor and going 8-10 from the free throw line to score a career best 30 points while grabbing 10 rebounds, 7 of them defensive and adding two blocks and two steals for the game. DeAndrae Coleman added 12 points on 6-12 shooting with 11 rebounds, 9 of them defensive. Then to round out the double digits scoring was Domonic Tilford with 22 on 8-11 shooting and going 4-7 from 3-point range and hitting both attempts from the free-throw line.
The Warhawks were lead by Lawrence Gilbert who scored 16 points in the game going 4-7 from the floor and 4-6 from 3-point range and sinking all four shots from the free-throw line. Jarvis Hill was the only other Warhawk to score in double digits with 14 on 3-12 shooting going 1-3 from outside the arc and 7-10 from the charity stripe.
The telling stats for the game were the FG and 3FG percentages for the two teams. USA shot 64% from the floor and 58% from 3-point range compared to Louisiana-Monroe’s 27% from the floor and 48% from outside the arc. The Warhawks went from 10-29 from the floor in the first half to 5-26 in the second half.
Additionally, USA out-rebounded them 38-27 for the game with 29 of the rebounds coming on the defensive side. The Jags claimed all of the other telling stats: Points in the paint 44-8, points of of turn-overs 16-8, second chance points 13-11, fast break points 9-0 and bench scoring 19-15. Plus the Jags held the Warhawks to only 20 points in the second half.
Louisiana-Monroe falls to 5-10 (1-3 in the SBC) while USA improves to 10-6 (3-2 in the SBC).
The Jaguars will return to the court when they host Troy on January 15th with tip-off set for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center. Come out and support your Jags!
Go Jags!
Lady Jags Fall At Home For First Time This Season
The USA Lady Jags would jump out to a quick lead making the first basket but that would be their only lead of the game, falling to the Lady Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State 80-57. This loss puts the Lady Jags at 11-4 for the season and 2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.
After USA made the first points of the game, the Raiders would go on a 25-8 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the game. MTSU had the hot hand early making their first seven shots which included three 3-point field goals, a couple by Brandi Brown early in the half. While USA was cold and only shot 2 of 9 during the same stretch. At the end of the run MTSU was up 25-11.
They did not stop there, Chelsia Lymon would make two 3-pointers in the closing minutes, one of them at the buzzer, to lead the Blue Raiders into the locker room with a 19 point lead, 40-21. Lymon’s buzzer beating shot was the ninth of the first half for the Blue Raiders on 13 attempts.
The Lady Jags came out of the locker room and tried to rally, cutting the lead down to 15 at 50-35 about five minutes into the second half. But the Blue Raiders would not let the Jags get any more momentum. The rest of the half was all downhill until the Jags were down by 30. USA would trim the lead back down to the 23 point margin of victory for the Blue Raiders.
Coach Pietri was in disbelief a few times at the Jags shooting and defensive woes. He made several substitutions and defensive changes in the second but the Blue Raiders would exploit different holes in the defense and continue scoring.
Alysha Clark lead the game in scoring for MTSU with 23 and adding 18 rebounds for a double double going 8-19 from the floor and 7-9 from the charity stripe. Other top scorers for MTSU were Brandi Brown scoring 17 on 6-8 shooting from the floor and 5-7 from outside the arc with 5 rebounds, Jackie Pickel scoring 14 on 5-9 shooting and 4-7 from 3-point range, and Chelsia Lymon with 11 points on 4-6 shooting and 3-4 from 3-point range. MTSU ended the game shooting 12 of 22 from outside the arc.
USA was lead in scoring by Jessica Starling who had 18 points on 5-14 shooting and hitting 3 of 7 from 3-point range and making all five of her free throws. Seidah Banks was the next highest scorer with 9 on 4 of 4 shooting and hitting her only attempt from 3-point range. Karina Sproal had 8 points, six of them on two early 3-pointers in the first half, but could not hit any of her later shots until two free-throws late in the second half.
MTSU shot 45% for the game from the field to a woeful 27% for USA, with a blistering 51% to 28% in the first half. The Blue Raiders also lead in 3-point FG percentage 55% to 28%, going 9-13 in the first half. MTSU lead with points in the paint 24-14 and points off turnovers 19-10. But USA did outscore MTSU on 2nd chance points 24-14 and fast break points 4-0. Plus USA’s bench scored 19 compared to MTSU’s bench scoring only 7 points for the game.
The Lady Jags will travel to Monroe, Louisiana to take on Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday with Tip-off set for 7:05pm.
One high point to the game was that the Thunderjags.com co-founder Matt had a visitor come sit next to him during the first half.
 |
| Matt with South Paw at the Lady Jags game. |
Jags Suffer Hard Loss To MTSU 82-67
The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State stay undefeated in the Sun Belt Conference with a win at the Mitchell Center 82-67. The game mirrored how the weather was in Mobile for the day, sloppy and a bit ugly at times.
The Jags held an early lead after tip-off but the Raiders quickly took the lead and held it the rest of the way. USA held its own in the first half and was down by as much as eight points and would come back to tie the game after a 11-3 run that was spurred by Phillip Tabet coming in with an assist, tipping-in a shot, sinking two free-throws and blocking a shot. He would finish the game with 13 minutes of play time, scoring four points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. With 4:30 left in the first half the score was tied at 26 and they would see three more tied before MTSU went into the locker room with a four point lead at 36-32.
With 17:41 left in the game, the Jags were hanging in only down 41-35 until an 11-2 run in only two and a half minutes firmly put the contest into MTSU’s favor at 52-37.
The Jags would make a seven point run with about eight minutes left to bring the Jags within 14 with less than five minutes to go and would cut the lead even further with under two minutes to go at 78-65. But 13 points would be as close as they could get.
Watching the game, you see why MTSU was chosen to finish first in the SBC Eastern Division when you see that they made nearly 70% of their shots from the floor in the second half. They outshot USA for the game 49%-44% from the floor, 44%-39% from 3-point range and 90%-70% from the free-throw line.
For the fifth consecutive game, Domonic Tilford lead the team in scoring with 18. He was helped by DeAndre Coleman who scored 13 and Brandon Davis with 11 before he fouled out in the final minutes. Ronald Douglas had 5 blocks.
MTSU was lead in scoring by Demetrius Green who had 18 and was helped by Desmond Yates with 17, Kevin Kanaskie with 16 and Montarrio Haddock with 13 to round out the double digit scorers.
 |
| A Frustrated Coach Arrow sheds his jacket. |
Tilford Scores 27 To Lead Jags Over FAU
Scoring a game high 27 points, Domonic Tilford lead USA to a wire-to-wire, 74-69 win over Florida Atlantic in southern Florida. While Brandon Davis scored 11 to be the only other player to score in double digits.
USA led the entire first half shooting 54% and going 4-7 from 3-point range on Tilfords 12 first half points. The Jags led 32-22 after Brandon Davis answered a FAU 3-pointer with a dunk with less than five minutes to go in the half, but went scoreless from that point through halftime. Going into the lockerroom at the half they had a slim 32-30 lead.
The Jags hit an early three in the second half to extend their lead to 5 but over the first seven minutes of the second half, FAU would close within 1 point three times. After a quick 7-2 run in just over a minute, the Jags jumped out to a six point lead, 50-44.
Another short run over two minutes saw FAU climb back within 2 points midway through the second half at 52-50. Methodically the Jags would pull out to a nine point lead, 67-58 with 4:40 remaining on the clock. Up by eight with less than four minutes to go FAU would score 6 straight points to close the advantage to two points 69-67 with just over a minute and a half left.
Sherrer sunk two shots from the free throw line, then FAU’s Monroe sunk two foul shots and C. J. Garner hit one of two foul shots to put the Jags up 72-69. To preserve the win, Garner blocks Carderro Nwoji’s attempt at a 3-pointer with four seconds left which lead to him making a layup to end the game.
FAU out rebounded USA 31-22 and hit 19-22 from the free throw stripe. USA out-shot FAU 57%-46% from the field and also outshot them 46%-15% from 3-point range. They were even scoring in the paint, USA held a slight advantage in points off turnovers 12-11. FAU outscored USA in 2nd chance shots 15-7 while USA had 8 fast break points to FAU’s 0. But bench scoring made the biggest difference in the game with USA scoring 22 and FAU could only muster 5 from one player, however that number is a bit misleading since FAU’s roster only lists seven players for the game.
USA will host Middle Tennessee State at the Mitchell Center on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 7:05PM. These two teams were chosen to finish 1-2 in the SBC Eastern Division this season. Additionally, these two teams are the top two point producers thus far in the Sun Belt Conference. Domonic Tilford leads the league with 19.3 points per game and 3.25 3-pointers per game. While Desmond Yates is second in the league with 19 points per game but leads the conference with 62% FG percentage.
Come out and support the Jags in their first home conference game since Western Kentucky on December 18th. GO JAGS! BLEED IT RED!
Jags 20-0 Run Tops Off 32 Point Win Over Spring Hill
The South Alabama Jaguars faced two opponents in this game, its longest layoff since opening the season in mid November and a 10 point deficit. But the Jaguars woke up from its holiday slumber and beat the cross town challeger by 32 points in the end.
With 7:30 left in the first half, Marcus Coleman hit his sixth 3-pointer in the half to put the Badgers up 39-29 and give them their final double digit lead of the game. The Jaguar defense would come on strong to end the first half only allowing two field goals in the rest of the first half and cutting the Badger lead down to two at the half.
DeAndre Coleman would give USA their first lead of the game at just over one minute played in the second half, 34-33 and opened up a 39-35 advantage. But the Badgers would keep themselves in the game, bringing the contest to 41-40 still early in the second half. Then the Jaguars, over the next five and a half minutes, would take firm control of the game with a 20-0 run that was capped off with two Domonic Tilford 3-pointers to make the score 61-40 with under 11 minutes left in the game. The Badgers would be outscored in the second half 57-23.
Domonic Tilford would lead the Jaguars in scoring with 19 on 8-17 shooting and going 2-8 from 3-point range. He was followed by Brandon Davis with 13, LaShun Watson with 12, and C. J. Garner with 11. DeAndre Coleman fell one point short of a double double with 9 points and 11 rebounds on the night.
Marcus Coleman lead all players in scoring with 30 on 10-18 shooting all of that from beyond the 3-point arc. His next closes scorer was Jeremy Price with 10.
Jaguars out shot the Badgers 50%-29% from the floor, and 80%-55% from the free throw line while the badgers held the edge from beyond the 3-point arc 35%-25%. Also, the Jaguars held the edge in rebounds 48-29 for the game. USA also led the Badgers in point in the paint 56-12, points off of turnovers 15-6, second chance points 20-5, fast break points 16-10 and scoring from the bench 40-12.
USA will return to Sun Belt Conference play on New Years day when they travel to Florida Atlantic for a 1pm tip-off.
Go Jags!
Men’s Basketball Recap
Since I last wrote about the Jaguars Basketball team they have played four games, so I knew I thought I had better write a recap for this stretch of games.
On Sunday December 7th, the Jaguars hosted Houston Baptist at the Mitchell Center and came away with a blow-out win 93-63 to push their winning streak to four games since the Arkansas lass back just before Thanksgiving. The team was led by Domonic Tilford who scored 19 points and was closely followed by Charles Tabet with 17. DeAndre Coleman lead the team with 12 rebounds, 9 of them were defensive. The team as a whole out rebounded Houston Baptist 49-27 for the game, and out shot them 51% to 37% from the floor, 47% to 41% from 3-point range and 80% to 50% from the free-throw line.
On December 13th, the Jaguars traveled to Starkville, MS to take on the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. The Jags trailed the entire first half but Ronald Douglas and Brandon Davis gave the Jags the lead in the first minute of the second half. The lead would change hands a couple times until the Jags had their last lead of the game at 38-37 before the Bulldogs pulled away with a 15-0 run in the next 3:30 of game time.
Brandon Davis lead the scoring with 19 on 7-19 shooting and falling one rebound shy of a double-double. The next leading scorer would Domonic Tilford with 11 on 4-11 shooting, 3-6 from 3-point range. Mississippi State was led by Jarvis Vardado with 21 on 9-11 shooting in 26 minutes of play. The Jags were out shot in two of the three categories: 36%-54% from the floor and 62%-71% from the free throw line. But they did manage to out shoot the Bulldogs from 3-point range 36%-29%. Also the Jags out rebounded the Bulldogs for the game 39 to 33.
The Jags opened the Sun Belt Conference season hosting Western Kentucky at the Mitchell Center. Domonic Tilford had one of the best nights of his career but could not lift the Jags to a victory over the Hilltoppers in a 66-69 loss. Tilford scored 30 points on 9-16 shooting, going 7-11 from beyond the arc and a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe. LaShun Watson and DeAndre Coleman both scored 10 points each. Brandon Davis came down with 13 rebounds with 9 of them being defensive.
The Hilltoppers were lead by A.J. Slaughter who scored 21 points on 8-19 shoting and going 2-5 from 3-point range. Orlando Mendez-Valdez scored 20 going 7-11 from the floor and 4-8 from 3-point range. Two other Hilltoppers scored in double digits with Sergio Kerusch earning a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds (13 of them defensive).
The lead changed 12 times over the course of the game, the last with just over seven minutes to go in the game. The Hilltoppers pushed out to the largest lead of the game, 67-61 with just over two minutes left in the game. Domonic Tilford hit a three with from the top of the key with 19 seconds to go to bring the Jags within one point. A.J. Slaugter then ended the scoring with two free throws just two seconds later.
The Jaguars were out-shot in all three categories: Field Goals 44%-48%, 3-point Field Goals 40%-44% and Free Throws 57%-89%. But just like the previous game, the Jags out rebounded the opposition 35-31.
Last night, December 20th, the Jaguars rebounded with 62-57 win over Florida International to even their mark in the Sun Belt Conference at 1-1 and snap a two game losing streak. Tilford followed up the 30 point effort against WKU with a 23 point game against FIU shooting 7-13 from the field and going 2-4 from 3-point range. No other Jaguars scored in double digits. The Jags led in two of the three shooting categories, Field Goals 42%-36% and Free Throw 70%-58%, but FIU out-shot the Jags from outside the arch 53%-50%. Also, FIU out rebounded the Jags 37-34.
USA will have an eight day holiday break for the Christmas Holiday but will return to the Mitchell Center with on December 28th to take on the Spring Hill Badgers with a 2:05pm Sunday afternoon tipoff.
Go Jags!
Jaguars Rally Leads To Overtime Win At Southern Mississippi
The Jaguars improved their record to 5-3 on the season with the overtime victory at Southern Miss. DeAndré Coleman made a layuup with 31 seconds left in the game on Tuesday to put the Jags on top for good. Coleman, in addition to putting USA in front for good, also was the his second double-double in a row. Ronald Douglas blocked a follow-up shot by Craig Craft which Domonic Tilford then made the rebound and was fouled to seal the game with two made free throws.
The Jags were lead by Domonic Tilford who scored 15 on the night. Both DeAndrae Ross and Ronald Douglas scored 13 while DeAndre Coleman came off of the bench to score 12 and collect 12 rebounds. Leading all scores was Jeremy Wise from USM with 7-20 fieldgoals, 4-11 from three and 10-13 free throws for a 28 point night.
USA was down by six points at halftime but came out in the second half with several quick scores to erase whittle that lead down to one point and taking the lead shortly thereafter.
USA lead 57-52 with 6:15 left in the game but USM came back to force overtime by hitting 3 three pointers in the final 3:30 of the game.
The Jags will take the court again on Sunday with an afternoon tip-off against Houston Baptist at the Mitchell Center at 2:05pm.
Go Jags!
Jags win Tournament Title
The South Alabama Jaguars beat Maine and UC Davis to win the USA Basketball Classic tournament title. The win over Maine snapped a two game losing streak by the Jags and the win over UC Davis lifted their season record to 4-3.
USA held a 40-20 halftime lead over Maine and led by double digits for the final 30 minutes of the game. Brandon Davis led the Jags in scoring with 18 while Domonic Tilford scored 15 and DeAndré Coleman scored 11 points coming off the bench to help win the game 71-59.
In the Jags win over UC Davis, DeAndré Coleman had his first double-double of the season by scoring a career-high 19 points and came down with 11 rebounds. Tilford scored 17 and Brandon Davis scored 11 and were named to the all-tournament team. Coleman also received the tournaments MVP award.
This 72-69 win marks the first tournament title for the Jags since 1991.
South Alabama will play next in Hattiesburg when they take on Southern Mississippi on Tueday with tip off scheduled fro 7pm.
Go Jags!