Jags Use Strong Second Half To Down William Carey 82-64 In Home Opener
The South Alabama Jaguars Men’s Basketball team used a strong second half to defeat William Carey 82-64 in their home opener for the season. The Jags improve to 2-0 on the season while WCU used this game as an exhibition game.
William Carey led most of the first half but the Jags took the lead back late in the first half, but the Crusaders were able to steal the ball and lay it in before the buzzer to take a 36-36 tie into halftime. However the Jags would use a 12-0 run early in the second half to pull away.
“I kept telling everybody that that team was very athletic and could shoot the ball,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “Not to take anything away from them, but we didn’t guard like we wanted to at the beginning of the game. We get a little hard-headed now and then where we have to be proven that they can shoot the ball and I think they proved it that they could shoot it in the first half.”
Sophomore Mychal Ammons earned his third consecutive double-double going back to last season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. “I think last year we played (Mychal) 95 percent outside,” Arrow stated. “He never played outside before but we thought that he could become a 6-foot-6 power ‘3’ man and all that skill work he did last year has helped him this year play the ‘3’ and the ‘4.’ He can put the ball on the floor better. Now he’s taking ‘4s’ off the dribble and when he takes it outside he’s taking ‘3s’ off the dribble so he can dribble penetrate better with all the experience he got from last year.”
Augustine Rubit, a junior, fell one rebound short of a double-double with 20 points, 16 in the first half, and nine rebounds. “I thought Aug was getting back to his form,” Arrow said. “He really isn’t back yet from his dislocated toe, but he was moving a lot better tonight.”
During the 12-0 run that put the Jags up for good, four different Jaguars contributed with scores. Junior Antoine Allen nailed back-to-back 3-pointers, the first for the Jaguars in the game, to cap off the run.
Midway through the second half the Jags had a 7-0 run with Xavier Roberson hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Jags lead to 59-44.
On the other side, William Carey opened the second half shooting 1-of-11 from the floor.
“We won’t face anybody all year that’s got a front line like they’ve got,” William Carey head coach Steve Knight said. “They finally started making some shots in the second half, and that hurt us. If you’re going to try to double the post, then they start making threes, it’s pick your poison. They did a much better job in the second half of mixing it up.”
Roberson scored 15 points, all in the second half. Senior Javier Carter tied a career high with three assists with seven blocks to tie him for fifth place in school history.
South Alabama will face Tennessee State on Monday at 3pm in the next round of the Coaches vs Cancer classic. They will play in Atlanta and hosted by Georgia State.
Jags Basketball Opens Home Opener Tonight At The Mitchell Center
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team will open their home schedule tonight when they host the William Carey Crusaders. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 pm at the Mitchell Center. All upper level seats will be on sale for $1 as will hot dogs from 6pm until halftime.
The game will be broadcast on 105.5 WNSP or it can be seen by subscribers to the Jaguars All-Access service.
The Jags enter the game on the heels of a huge win over top-25 ranks Florida State University. Last season the Jags lost to the Seminoles 80-39.
“I think our guys did a heck of a job of doing what they had to do to win,” Jaguar head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “Everybody that got into the game contributed. Did we do everything right? No, but we did a lot of good things.”
“At the end of the game, we showed the ability to win big games,” he continued. “We hit free throws, we got stops and if we didn’t get a stop, we held them to one shot. We showed maturity in key situations at the end of the game. For this early in the season, I thought that was good against a quality team.”
But the Jags had better treat their opponent with respect because their only loss was to Mississippi State by six points in an exhibition game.
Additionally on Tuesday South Alabama’s Antoine Allen was honored with a pair of awards for his play against Florida State. He was honored with the Lou Henson Award which is given to the top mid-major player in the country every week. He was also honored by the Sun Belt Conference as the player of the week for his performance.
Allen scored a career high 21 points to help lead the Jaguars over the Seminoles in Tallahassee.
Come out tonight and support your Jaguars!
Lady Jags Defeat Tennessee State 59-43 Monday Night
Lady Jaguar Head Coach Rick Pietri
The South Alabama Lady Jaguar basketball team defeated Tennessee State Monday night at the Mitchell Center. They used a 16-0 run over a five minute span late in the second half to secure the 59-43 win.
South Alabama’s record improves to 2-0 on the season behind a game-high 16 points by Mary Nixon. She shot 5-of-12 and was 2-of-3 from three point range and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Camille Reynolds added nine points, all in the first half. Jennifer Johnson had eight points, six of them during the Jaguars late run. Brianna Wright pulled down 11 rebounds, 10 of the defensive.
“I give a lot of a lot of credit to Tennessee State for making this a really ugly game,” South Alabama Lady Jaguar head coach Rick Pietri said. “It’s coach (Joe) Inman’s 29th year as a coach in Division I, his third program. He’s won conference championships and been to the NCAA Tournament. With this team, he’s decided they are a relentless pressure team. Full-court, half-court, it doesn’t matter. They sell out. They completely sell out under pressure and we struggled with it early. We had 16 turnovers at halftime and that’s not characteristic of our teams and how we play. We were very defensive on offense, and it led to some problems.”
“One of the fortunate things for us is that we guarded them,” Pietri continued. “Even while we were struggling to take care of the ball and struggling to score, we were defending well enough that we could muddle through and still, somehow, be up at halftime. In the second half, we did a better job of managing how they were playing us. We started to make them pay in some areas where they got extended and we were able to make some plays under the goal. We were also able to make some plays beyond the arc. In their frenzied rotation, somebody was left open. Jennifer Johnson hit some big shots for us at one point. In the first half, Camille Reynolds was the one who kept us in the game. She stayed composed while everyone else was losing their minds and she made some big plays for us. We won by 16, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. We are 2-0 and we’re moving forward.”
The Lady Jaguars host Southern Miss on Friday night at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Go Jags!
Jags Open Season Against Florida State On Friday
South Alabama Men’s Basketball team will open the season in Tallahassee against the Seminoles. This is the second year in a row that the Jags and Florida State have faced each other on the hardwood. FSU defeated the Jags 80-39 last season to improve their record against the Jags to 10-2. They have also won the last four times they have met with all of them being since the 1988-1989 season.
The Jags and the Seminoles will open the season in the first round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament. The ‘noles enter the season ranked 25th in the nation by the Associated Press and tied for 24th in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
FSU is picked to finish fourth in the 2013 ACC standing by the media after winning the 2012 ACC Championship.
Senior Michael Snaer won the 2012 ACC Tournament MVP. He is also an All-American candidate and led the ‘noles with a career high 14.0 points per game average. He is also the returning leader in five different statistical categories including scoring, steals, assists and minutes played. They also return Junior Okaro White who is FSU’s leading returning rebounder with an average of 4.4 per game in 35 games played as a sophomore as they won 25 games last season.
The Jags and ‘Noles tip off at 6pm Central. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Lady Jags Win Preseason Exhibition Against West Florida 75-33
The South Alabama Lady Jaguar basketball team defeated West Florida Monday evening at the Mitchell Center 75-33. Junior College transfer Meghan Dunn scored a game-high 20 points off the bench to lead the Jags to the win the preseason exhibition game.
“The things she did out there in the game tonight, she’s also been doing in practice,” lady Jag head coach Rick Pietri said. “The fact that she’s now done those things in practice and in a game gives her the sense of being able to do them every day. She was very good tonight that’s for sure.”
Dunn finished the game 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-9 from the three point arc. Dunn also added three assists and three steals in the win. Mary Nixon added 14 points and lead the team with nine rebounds. Camille Reynolds knocked in 10 points as well. All 12 players on the team saw the court and contributed with 11 of them recording at least two points in the game.
Actually, the Lady Jag reserves had a 43-9 advantage in the game. The Jags were 30-of82 as a team and shot 36.6% from the floor and 28.1% (9-of-32) from three-point range.
“There were some positives and there were some things we needed to work on and that’s what an exhibition provides for you” coach Pietri said. “I wish we would’ve shot it from the perimeter better. Our team is a very good three-point shooting team. By percentage, we weren’t that tonight. We had a bunch of open looks, but we were able to finish some plays too. Defensively, we were solid. We did some good things in team defense. There are some things in team defense we need to work on and the film will show us. West Florida had some opportunities to finish play and didn’t. A better team might have finished those plays. Overall, it was a positive. We just have to build on it for the ones that count.”
With under 12 minutes left in the first half, the Jags held a slim 9-8 lead before they went on a 21-5 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to break open the game. Two Jaguar freshmen got it started with Sharon Sanders and Brittany Webb each nailing long range shots from the left corner. Dunn then connected on a three-pointer from the right wing to extend the lead to 18-9. Dunn actually was the big spark during the run by scoring 11 of her 20 points during the run while connecting on three three-point shots.
The Lady Jags will open the season on the road against Houston Baptist on Friday. Tip off is set for 7pm.
USA Men Defeat Spring Hill 73-40
The Jaguar Men’s Basketball team defeated the Spring Hill Badgers 73-40 in an exhibition game Monday night at the Mitchell Center. The defense led the way as the Jags held their opponents to 21.7% shooting in the second half and 28.3% for the game.
“I think that our defense was really good tonight,” Jaguars Men’s Basketball head coach Ronnie Arrow said. “We held them to 28 percent. Last year we beat them by 24 and won 17 games. We’ll use it as a measuring stick. We’ve got to go to work because the next game is a big game for us and we’ve got a lot of work to do as far as taking care of the ball.”
Sophomore Mychal Ammons scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half while pulling down eight rebounds. He scored 10 in a row late in the second half. “I thought late in the game Mychal came up with some big things for us,” Arrow said.
Neither the Jags nor the Badgers shot well in the game. The Jags only converted 34.5% of their shots from the floor including 29% in the first half.
The Jags began on a shooting slump by going 0-for-10 with five turnovers in a stretch that spanned nearly eight minutes. That stretch allowed the Badgers to cut the Jaguar lead to 21-17, a mere four points, with 3:55 left to play in the first half. But the Jags defense turned up the heat and allowed the Jags to close the half with a 10-1 run.
“The press early was good but our half-court defense limited them and held them to 28 percent,” Arrow commented. “Any time you hold a team to 28 percent I think that’s pretty good.”
Mychal Ammons lead the Jags with 21 points going 8-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from three point range. Freddie Goldstein and Xavier Roberson both scored 13 points each. Goldstein added eight rebounds. Augustine Rubit chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds for the game. Three other Jags scored for the Jags as well.
The Jags wrapped up their preseason exhibition schedule with a 3-1 record. They will open up the regular season with a trip to Florida State on Friday with a game against the Seminoles set to tip-off at 6pm.
Jaguar Men’s Basketball Hosts Spring Hill College Tonight
The South Alabama Men’s basketball team will play an exhibition game on Monday night at the Mitchell Center. The Jaguars will host Spring Hill Badgers with tip off set for 7:05pm.
The game will not be broadcast on 105.5 FM WNSP due to the New Orleans Saints Monday night football game, but it will be broadcast on their website www.wnsp.com. You can view the game if you are a subscriber to the Jaguars All-Access service on USAJaguars.com.
This will actually be the team’s fourth preseason game. They had a three game exhibition tour of Canada where the Jags went 2-1.
“The biggest thing is, we got the experience,” Arrow said of the Canadian trip. “Unfortunately when we got back and we got started, Aug went out for three weeks and Javier was out for two weeks, so that put them behind. We’re just now getting everybody back healthy. We have some catching up to do.”
This will be the 20th meeting between the Jags and the Badgers with South Alabama holding a 16-3 edge in the series. “We hope that our fans come out and watch,” Arrow said. “I know Spring Hill will bring a nice group and we hope to have all of our fans come see what we have for this year.”
The Jags won last season 88-64 with an 18 point night by Augustine Rubit and a double-double from Mychal Ammons.
Coach Ronnie Arrow was pleased to get the team extra practices for the trip through Canada, but he says that there is still work to be done. “We still need a lot of work on different things,” Arrow said. “We’re working on the defensive part of all five guys on the floor getting after it. Offensively, with the things we’ve put in, the personnel is catching on a lot more quickly than last year.”
Spring Hill enters the game 0-2 so far this season with an overtime loss to Fisk 74-70 and an 83-46 loss to #24 Southern-New Orleans. They return four starters including Todd Martin, a former Jaguar who is the team’s top returning scorer.
Magee To Miss Four To Six Weeks With Knee Injury
Head coach Ronnie Arrow announced on Saturday that Gregoryshon Magee will miss four to six weeks with a knee injury.
Magee sufferred a meniscus tear in practice and underwent surgery on Friday. “The MRI showed a minor tear that needed to be cleaned up,” said Arrow. “If everything works out, he should be back within four to six weeks.”
Magee is a 6’9″ junior Forward from New Orleans by way of Neosho County Community College.
Ronnie Arrow Speaks In Preseason Media Day Press Conference
South Alabama Men’s Basketball coach Ronnie Arrow spoke at the Sun Belt Conference media day on Wednesday. They also announced the all-conference teams and preseason polls earlier in the morning but they also listed the television schedule for the upcoming season.
The South Alabama – FAU game on February 9 was selected to be shown on the Sun Belt Network and the tip-off was changed to 7:30pm for the broadcast. Also the season opening game against Florida State can be seen on ESPN3.com at 6pm CST.
Below are highlights of the teleconference.
Coach Ronnie Arrow’s opening statement. “We have seven guys back from last year’s team, with Aug, Freddie, Javier Carter and Mychal Ammons, guys that were able to give us a lot of good minutes last year. Xavier Roberson broke a bone in his foot last year but is back full-strength. We’re looking forward to it. We think we have the players in place to be able to make a run at the championship, as long as everybody stays healthy. I think the conference is going to be up. Last year there were four to six teams that had seven or eight new players and now those teams have all those guys back this year with experience.”
Arrow spoke about the race for the Sun Belt title. “When you have Tony Mitchell back… I was telling everybody he could in the pros that I know that he was ready and he needs to go. He chose to come back and he brings instant notoriety to the league with a player of that status. I think Augustine Rubit is right there with him. I think Aug has proven he’s not only one of the top players in the conference, but also in the country. As far as teams being able to come on, we believe that we’re one of those teams. I think it’s going to be very competitive. Middle Tennessee has 10 of their 12 back, North Texas has a lot of their guys back and Arkansas State has a lot of their guys back. I think it’ll be a competitive race and there will be teams in this conference knocking off big-name schools in preseason.”
Arrow then spoke about how the preseason is going for the Jaguars so far. “We had an intrasquad game last game and we had some good things happen in certain areas. We’re playing Mychal Ammons inside and outside. He averaged 10 points and five rebounds as a freshman. If Tony Mitchell wouldn’t have been a freshman last year, Mychal would have been looked at as one of the top two or three freshmen in the league. He’s playing very well. We have a new guy, Viktor Juricek from Slovakia, who has come in and is learning. He’s getting Americanized quickly. He’s used to the European style where he hangs around the 3-point line, he can shoot the ‘3’, but we’re getting him Americanized so that he can go inside and outside. He’ll be a young man to watch this year. Javier Carter was the eighth-best shot blocker in the country last year before he got hurt and he ended up being the 16th-best shot blocker. Antoine Allen and Dre Conner are two guards that we brought in to keep people off of Aug and not be able to double down on him.”
Then Arrow spoke about getting ready for the season. “One of the things that helped us was our trip to Canada. We got to have eight practices and play three games over there. So we got to play against good competition to get us ready. With all the guys back and the new guys, it gave them a chance to know each other on and off the court. Our first regular season game is at Florida State, so we better be ready. So all of that and the strong non-conference schedule will help us.”
South Alabama has an exhibition game agaisnt Spring Hill College on Monday, November 5. They will begin the season against Florida State on Friday, November 9 in Tallahassee, Florida with a 6pm tip-off. The game can be seen on ESPN3.
Three Jaguar Men’s Basketball Players Name To All-SBC Team
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team had two players voted to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team on Wednesday. They also were picked to finish second in the Eastern Division.
Junior Augustine Rubit and seniors Javier Carter and Freddie Goldstein were chosen for the All-Sun Belt team. The Jags are tied for second most with Arkansas State behind Middle Tennesee State who had four.
Rubit returns as the top scorer in the Sun Belt Conference with an average of 15.2 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game and 12 double-doubles last season to be the first Jaguar player named to the First Team All-Sun Belt Conference Team since 2008. His rebounding average led the conference and was 38th in the nation while finishing second in the conference in scoring.
Rubit was the 2010-2011 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and already ranks eighth in South Alabama school history in career rebounds with 576 and third in rebounding average with 10.1 per game.
Javier Carter and Freddie Goldstein were both third team selections. Carter blocked 72 shots with an average of 2.7 blocks per game which ranked 16th in Division I. Those 72 blocks are third in school history and ranks second place in school history with 132 in his career. He also averaged 6.1 points and 5 rebounds per game last season with two double-doubles.
Goldstein is the Sun Belt’s defending 3-point champion. He made 2.5 3-pointers per game last season and was second on the team in scoring with 11.7 per game. He set and tied the school record for 3-pointers in a game with nine and placed 15 in the conference in 3-point percentage (37.1%). He used his 3-point skill to become the first Jaguar to score 30 or more points in a game twice in a single season since the 2007-2008 season.
In the preseason poll of conference coaches the Jags were voted to finish second in the Eastern Division behind Middle Tennessee State. MTSU received all 11 first-place votes and 65 points while the Jags had 51 votes. Behind the Jags were Western Kentucky with 47, FAU with 29, Troy with 22 and FIU with 17.
In the western division North Texas was a unanimous pick with 55 points. Arkansas State had 40, UALR had 33, ULL had 24 and ULM had 13.