South Alabama Sports Weekend Preview
Preview of weekend sports for South Alabama athletics. There are plenty of games happening this weekend on campus. Come out and cheer on the Jaguars.
Men’s Basketball
With just four games left in the regular season the Jaguars are sitting in sixth place in the conference standings, which is key as only the top eight are invited to participate in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans.
South Alabama (9-18, 7-9 SBC), coming off a 79-51 loss to Georgia State, will face the top two teams and the bottom two teams in the conference standing to finish out the regular season over these next four games. The first opponent is second-place Georgia Southern (18-6, 11-4 SBC) in Stateboro, GA. on Saturday.
Softball
The #22 ranked South Alabama softball team, fresh off of their seventh consecutive win at Nicholls State on Wednesday, will host the 2015 South Alabama Invitational at Jaguar Field this weekend.
The Jags (8-2) will host Chattanooga, Ball State, Sam Houston State and Jacksonville for the weekend. They will face UT-Chatanooga on Friday at 6pm. On Saturday they will face Ball State at 1:30pm then Sam Houston State at 6pm. Then finish out the weekend slate against Jacksonville University at 1:30 on Sunday.
Baseball
The Jags baseball, who are undefeated through their first four games of the season after defeating Auburn 7-4 on Tuesday, will host three top-25 teams over the weekend at Eddie Stanky Field.
The round-robin format tournament will have the Jags, #13 Maryland, #16 Arkansas and #22 Central Florida all play three games in three days.
Arkansas and UCF will start at 2pm on Friday, followed by Maryland and South Alabama at 6:30pm.
On Saturday Maryland will face UCF at 2pm followed by USA and Arkansas at 6:30pm. Maryland and Arkansas will play at 10am on Sunday with USA and UCF starting at 2pm.
USA Sports go 8-1 In Weekend Games
South Alabama had a successful weekend slate of home games this past weekend by going 8-1 in all four sports played on campus this weekend.
Men’s Basketball
The Jaguar men’s basketball team used a fast start to hold on against Texas-Arlington 97-91. USA held a 20-point lead at halftime but the Mavericks outscored the Jags 62-48 in the second half, as the Jags committed 14 of their 20 turnovers in the second half, but were unable to overcome the deficit.
The Jags improve their overall record to 9-17 and their conference record to 7-8. Texas-Arlington fell to 14-10 overall and 8-6 in conference play.
Sophomore Ken Williams led all scorers with a career-high 29 points with a personal best eight rebounds. He connected on six of 10 three-point attempts, five of them made in the first half. He was also 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
They travel to Georgia State on Thursday to take on the Panthers for a 6pm tip.
Softball
The #24 ranked Lady Jaguars completed a four-game sweep of the Mardi Gras Invitational.
The weekend began on Friday with a 5-4 win over Oklahoma State. The game was decided in the bottom of the seventh when Stephanie Pilkington drew a bases-loaded walk to end the game.
On Saturday, the Jags scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and third innings then were able to cruise to the 4-1 win over Lipscomb. Freshman Kalen McGill earned her second win of the season (2-0) where the recorded three strikeouts an no walks. She only allowed a single earned run on four hits with her ERA holding at 0.51.
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Jags Defeat Troy on the road 71-67
South Alabama, led by Georgi Boyanov who earned his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds along with four other Jaguars who scored in double-digits, defeated Troy on the road 71-67. Also spoiling the Trojan Athletic Director’s promise of a steak dinner to the team if they defeated the Jaguars.
The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Jaguars and improved their record to 8-17 overall and 6-8 in Sun Belt Conference play. Meanwhile the Trojans fell to 9-14 overall and 4-10 in the conference.
Boyanov recorded 12 points and six rebounds after halftime. He also had a steal with 13 seconds left to help close the door on the Trojans. Sophomore Taishaun Johnson shared game-high honors with 17 points. Dionte Ferguson added 14 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Ken Williams added 13 points an a career-high six assists.
The Trojans took a three point lead around midway through the second half on an 8-0 run, but the Jaguars answered right back with a 10-1 run of their own. Johnson started it with a layup to start the run, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers with 8:01 left in the game to put the Jaguars up 56-50.
But the Trojan would not go away, they scored the next four points to cut the Jaguar lead down to two points, but again the Jaguars would answer by scoring eight of the next 10 points while holding Troy to one field goal over the next six minute stretch.
The closest the Trojans would get in the last five-and-a-half minutes would be four points.
The Jags clamped down in the second half defensively, after the Trojans converted 60% of their 3-point shots in the first half, the Jags held them to 33.3% in the second half.
“There’s no question we needed this win to get back on track and get refocused,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “Anytime you can win a game on the road in league play, it’s a great thing. I thought our guys continued to battle throughout the game. It was a very well-played game, both teams made some runs and neither team really jumped out to a big lead. We were very fortunate that we made a lot of the right plays at the end of the game and came out with the victory.”
“You have to give credit to our players and to Coach (Darnell) Archey,” Graves continued. “He did an outstanding job with the scouting report and the defensive scheme, calling out their actions. Our players did an excellent job of following through with that. We had three days to prepare for them; when we have three days to prepare for somebody and our guys stay locked in and focused, that’s a recipe for success. Our scouting and preparation were top-notch this week.”
All five of Troy’s starters scored in double-digits with Kelton Ford sharing the game-high mark with 17 points and Wesley Person adding 14.
South Alabama will host Texas-Arlington at home on Saturday with a 4:05pm tipoff.
Jags use big second half to defeat ULL 89-85
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team overcame a 10-point halftime deficit by scoring 56 points in the second half to sweep the season series against Louisiana-Lafayette with an 89-85 win Thursday night.
The victory improves the Jaguars record to 7-14 overall and 5-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. ULL drops to 11-10 overall and 5-5 in conference play as well.
Taishaun Johnson had a career night with 23 points, 15 of which came in the second half, as he went 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Ken Williams added 19 points, Barrington Stevens III scored 17 points with a game-high six assists, and Dionte Ferguson scored all of his 16 points in the second half.
USA used a 15-4 run in the second half to take a 58-54 lead with 10:36 left in the game. But ULL would not go away so easy as they went on a 6-2 run to tie the game 60-60.
The Jags would responnd with a 13-4 run to take a 73-64 lead with just under five minutes remaining.
In a stretch of 1:38 seconds, the Jaguars went 6-of-15 from the charity stripe which kept the Cajuns in the game. This allowed the opposition to get with three points in the final 31.4 seconds of the game. However the Jags shugged off the sudden cold streak at the line to make their final five attempts and hold on for the win.
“Overall, we had a solid first half except for our transition defense and rebounding the ball,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “In the locker room we talked about how if we do those two things, we would really like the results in the second half. I thought we did an outstanding job in the second half of fighting through fatigue and a little bit of adversity. Ken [Williams] and Taishaun played with four fouls for a vast majority of that. Adbul got hit in the mouth and his tooth was hurting. Guys came in and played really well. It was a hard-fought victory.
“(UL Lafayette) is a really deep, physical team. I think you can tell by watching the game that their bodies are more physically mature than ours. It’s a great lesson for us moving forward on how much we have to invest and get in the weight room. Overall, I’m really proud of our effort and how we fought all the way to the end.”
“I think they made timely shots,” Graves said of Williams, Stevens and Johnson. “It wasn’t just one guy. It was by committee. They’re understanding how to play off of each other even better. When Taishaun drives, our spacing is getting better. He did a better job tonight of not over dribbling. He has a tendency to do that, obviously. Tonight he didn’t over dribble as much as he normally did, and we got the ball moving side to side more in the second half. We talk about getting the ball to three sides of the floor, and we really did that. It made them guard a little bit longer, and I think they wore down because of it.”
Lafayette’s Shawn Long scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and came away with 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Kasey Shepherd added 20 points with five 3-pointers and five assists off the bench.
“We couldn’t stop them in the second half,” ULL head coach Bob Marlin said. “We came out and couldn’t defend at the level we should. We are last in the league in defense and our defending was horrible. We didn’t defend, giving them 63 percent. We didn’t get a whistle, missed a couple free throws, didn’t get a break and still had the ball to be tied.”
The Jaguars travel to Monroe, Louisiana to face the Warhawks on Saturday with a 4pm tipoff.
Jags hold off late rally to defeat UALR 66-64
South Alabama held off a Arkansas-Little Rock’s late rally with two key free throws by Ken Williams for a 66-64 win Monday night. The win evens the Jaguars conference record at 4-4 and 6-12 overall while UALR falls to 6-11 and 1-6 in Sun Belt play.
The Jaguars led by as many as 14 points early in the second half and led by 12 midway through the second half before a 15-3 run by the Trojans over a span of almost seven minutes tied the game at 61 each with 3:31 left. During that span, the Jags had eight turnovers.
However freshman Abdul Lewis answered for the Jags and junior Barrington Stevens III hit a free throw with under a minute left in the game to give USA a three point advantage.
But the Trojans would tie it up in the final 40.9 seconds on three free throws with the final two coming with 15.5 seconds left to tie the game at 64-64.
Williams would take the possession from the Jags half of the court and drove the rest of the way before the Trojans could foul him. After a UALR time out, Williams sunk both shots.
Josh Hagins put up a desperation shot that fell short of the basket giving the Jaguars the 66-64 win.
The Jags were led by Williams and his 20 points which is his fourth consecutive 20-point game. Williams made three 3-pointers, tied a career high with seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.
Dionte Ferguson added 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Taishaun Johnson added 12 and Lewis added 10.
South Alabama will look to win their third consecutive game when they travel to Boone, NC for the first time to face Appalachian State on Thursday. Tip off is scheduled for 6:30pm.
Jags Upset ULL on the road 89-82
South Alabama men’s basketball team came alive in the second half against Louisiana-Lafayette to rally and defeat the Cajuns 89-82 on Saturday at the Cajundome.
The Jags ended the Cajuns 12-game home win streak and improved their record to 5-12 overall and 3-4 in Sun Belt play. The Cajuns fall to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
USA rallied from a 15 point deficit in the first half to trail by nine at halftime 44-35. Sophomore Ken Williams led the way with a career high 28 to lead the Jaguars to their third win in their last four visits to the Cajundome. Williams is also the first Jaguar to score 23 or more points in four consecutive games since Jeff Hodge in 1988-89.
Freshman Taishaun Johnson added 15 points, 13 of them in the second half, and pulled down 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
The cajuns closed to 77-74 with 2:15 left in the game but USA responded with the next four points and were able to put the game away at the free throw line with six consecutive conversions in the final 37.4 seconds.
ULL was led by Shawn Long with 22 points and a game-high 22 rebounds. Kasey Shepherd and Brian Williams each added 13 points and Jay Wright had 12.
Georgi Boyanov came off the bench to score 14 points while going 2-of-2 from distance. Abdul Lewis and Dionte Ferguson both added 11 points with Ferguson also blocking three shots.
The Jaguars will end a run of three games in five days when they host Arkansas-Little Rock at the Mitchell Center on Monday for a 7:05pm tipoff. The Trojans enter the game with a 6-10 record overall and 1-5 in conference play.
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.
Jaguar Basketball Opens SBC Play Against Arkansas State Tonight
The South Alabama Mens Basketball team begin their conference schedule tonight when they host Arkansas State for a 7:05pm tip at the Mitchell Center. The Jags (2-8) look to snap their five-game losing streak and start their SBC schedule off on the right foot.
The Red Wolves (5-4) enter the game with a three-game winning streak that began with a road win against Mississippi State on December 17 in Starkville.
Arkansas State is led by the trio: Anthony Livingston, Cameron Golden and Sean Gardner. All three rank in the league’s top nine in scoring, the only school in the conference to have three players in that group. Livingston is fourth in the conference with an average of 16.4 points pr game and second in rebounding with 8.4 per game. Livingston also had a 20-point, 20-rebound game against Marshall on December 20.
Golden is eighth in the conference in scoring with a average of 15.3 points per game with Gardner right behind him in ninth place with a 14.9 point per game average. Gardner has scored 20-point or more in his last three outings while ranking third in the conference with an average of 2.7 3-pointers per game.
Jaguar freshman Taishaun Johnson is averaging 17.5 points in both of his last two outings. He led the team scoring against Howard with a career-high three 3-pointers and a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the free-throw line while also recording a personal-best four steals.
South Alabama is only averaging 62.8 points per game while the Red Wolves are averaging 68.2 points per game themselves.
After a tough non-conference schedule, USA head coach Matthew Graves hopes his team can finally find their rhythm and start conference play with a win. Only the top eight teams will go to New Orleans for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament this season and South Alabama wants to be one of those teams.
Jags fall to former SBC rival MTSU 68-67 on Saturday
On Saturday afternoon, the South Alabama Men’s Basketball team lost and overtime heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee State at the Mitchell Center, 68-67.
The Jags (2-4) trailed by 10 points in the first half and rallied back to tie the game late. They had a chance at winning the game in regulation but a long 3-point try missed its mark and bounced off the back of the rim.
In overtime the Blue Raiders broke a 64-64 tie with a layup by Jacquez Rozier with 42 seconds to play in the first overtime period. They then extended their lead with a pair of Jaquan Raymond free throws with 13.2 seconds left to give them a four point lead.
Taishuan Johnson nailed a long 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the overtime period and was fouled in the process. The free throw, if made, would have tied the game however his shot missed the mark.
Abdul Lewis led the team with 17 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Barrington Stevens III added 14 points and five rebounds. Ken Williams and Johnson added 10 points each.
MTSU was led by Rozier with 12 points.
Jags Overcome Slow Start to Defeat Spring Hill 71-54
South Alabama was out shot by Spring Hill 40.8% to 36.4% and trailed the Badgers for most of the first half before rallying with the final six points of the first half to take the lead into halftime.
After halftime it was clear sailing for the Jaguars as they would defeat Spring Hill 71-54.
Sophomore Georgi Boyanov earned his first career double-double with career highs in both points (14) and rebounds (10). He was 5-for-7 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from the foul line.
Senior Dionte Ferguson fell just short of a double-double himself with eight points and nine rebounds. He also had two steals and a blocked shot.
Freshman Taishaun Johnson chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Matevz Rojc led the Badgers with 10 points off the bench while making both of this three-point attempts. James Clarke had nine points off the bench while going 2-of-3 from outside the arc.
South Alabama has been plagued by slow starts this season. It wasn’t until the 3:21 mark of the first half that the Jags saw the lead. In previous games they were unable to recover from big deficits early on the road.
South Alabama improves to 2-3 on the season with the win. Spring Hill, an NCAA Division II program, is 0-6 on the season as the game was an exhibition for them.
The Jags will return to action on Saturday, December 6 when they host former Sun Belt rival Middle Tennessee State for a 1:05pm tip.