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 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 rally turned away in final minute of Camellia Bowl
Head coach Joey Jones, nose bleeding on the sidelines after an accidental kick to the face as a player tumbled out of bounds, continued to coach on the sideline even while trainers tried to dress the wound.
Head coach Joey Jones, with cuts on his nose and chin, was proud of his team after the Jaguars hard fought loss to Bowling Green in the programs first-ever bowl game, 33-28.
He was disappointed about the score, but there wasn’t much to be disappointed about. “We are a brand-new program and they’ve probably got a few more players than we do,” said Jones, who was accidentally kicked in the face on the sideline. “There we are, a minute and 10 seconds left and we’re up against a program that’s had football for probably 100 years. There are some positives to this but I don’t like losing.”
The Falcons controlled the game from the opening kick, despite most of the 20,256 fans at the Cramton Bowl cheering for the Jaguars. They took their opening possession 65 yards on seven plays in just 2:21 to quickly score the first points of the game.
Bowling Green would double their score on their next possession after quarterback James Knapke connected with Gehrig Dieter for a 53 yard strike to Jaguar 4 yard line. Travis Green would punch it in to make it a 14-0 game.
South Alabama would respond on a Kendall Houston 44-yard touchdown run to cut the Falcons lead to 14-7. The Jaguar defense would settle in and only allow Bowling Green two field goals of 39 and 22 yards respectively for a halftime score of 20-7.
The Jaguars would put the first points on the board in the second half with a 15 yard touchdown run to get within six points, 20-14. But the Falcons answered right back after a short, pooch kick would be fielded by Austin Valdez and returned 30 yards to start the possession in Jaguar territory. Just five plays later, Greene would dice his way through the Jaguar defense for a 17 yard touchdown giving the Falcons a two score lead, 27-14.
In the fourth quarter, Brandon Bridge would connect with DeMarrion Buford-Hughes for an 18-yard touchdown, the first TD reception in his career, to crawl within six points again, 27-21, with 11:23 left in the game.
Another pooched kickoff would be returned to near mid-field for the Falcons. The drive would go deep into Jaguar territory before an defensive pass interference call would set up the Falcons for a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Greene tried three times and each time was turned away by the Jaguars determined defense.
After a time out, Falcon head coach Dino Babers would decide to put points on the board and make it a two-score game. Knapke, also the holder for the field goal unit, looked around after the time out and placekicker Tyler Tate was nowhere to be found. He sprinted onto the field late, quickly set up for the attempt and seemed to gather himself before the kick. The kick came off of his foot low despite being less than an extra point attempt and a big Jaguar paw got on it to give the Jaguars new life with 8:25 left in the game.
Both teams would trade punts before South Alabama started moving the ball late. They put together an eight play, 73 yard drive with Terrance Timmons slicing into the end zone for a 28-21 lead with about 1:20 left in the game.
The Falcons would take the deep kickoff out to the 22 yard line. Then on the first play, Knapke would heave a long pass for Roger Lewis to run under, outpacing Roman Buchanan, for the game-deciding 78-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the Falcons up 33-28 with just over a minute remaining.
Bridge, who played much better in the second half than the first, would toss an interception to all but seal the win for the Falcons. Using all of their timeouts, the Jaguars forced the Falcons to punt, but a flag for roughing the kicker would finally seal the game for Bowling Green.
Knapke was named the game’s MVP after going 25-of-39 for 368 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis finished the game with 137 yards receiving on four catches with two touchdowns. Dieter led the Falcons with seven catches for 108 yards. Ronnie Moore had five catches for 61 yards before being disqualified from the game for targeting when he led with the crown of his helmet on a collision with Jereme Jones on punt coverage. Fred Coppet led the Falcons on the ground with 70 yards rushing with Greene adding 41 and two scores.
Brandon Bridge was 4-of-14 in the first half for 54 yards. But after a strong second half he would finish 20-of-37 for 279 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Kendall Houston led the rushing attack with 53 yards. Danny Woodson led the team with 122 yards on six catches.
The Falcons amassed 500 yards of total offense while the Jaguars gained 415. Bowling Green also held a 34:25 to 25:35 advantage in time-of-possession.
South Alabama ends the season with a 6-7 record while Bowling Green finishes 8-6.
Jags held final practice prior to Camellia Bowl
South Alabama held their final practice of the season Thursday on the campus of Huntingdon College’s Charles Lee Field in Montgomery in preparation for their first-ever bowl appearance.
The team practiced in shells and went through their gameplan for their opponent, Bowling Green. It was shorter than usual as an attempt to let the team rest some while also keeping the gameplan fresh in the team’s mind.
In something that may have become a tradition for the team, players switched jerseys for the Thursday workouts. For instance Maleki Harris, normally donning number six, was wearing 77 while offensive lineman Chris May was wearing the number eight. Several other player had made switches as well.
“I don’t know when it started but a few years ago on the last day of practice you had a guy, I’m not going to say any names, but he’s 5-foot-4, 162 pounds, wearing a 6-foot-2, 300-pound guy’s jersey,” Jaguar head coach Joey Jones explained to AL.com. “It looked kind of funny and they had to tie it up in the back. It’s fun. … Our guys work and they know the priorities and they’re going to work hard. And if they’re going to work their tails off and still have fun, I’m good with it.”
After practice both South Alabama and Bowling Green visited the Rosa Parks Museum, at different times.
On Friday, USA president Tony Waldrop along with members of the USA Board of Trustees and executive administration will volunteer at the Montgomery Area Food Back from 2-4pm. USA volunteers along with Southpaw, will help prepare food for distribution at the warehouse in Montgomery and they will all be dressed in Jaguar athletic jerseys.
Previewing Bowl Green – Camellia Bowl Edition
Photos: usajaguars.com
South Alabama and Bowling Green will tee it up at 8:15PM on Saturday at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery for the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Here is a short rundown on the Falcons.
Bowling Green plays in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), they enter the game with a 7-6 record overall and a 5-3 record in conference play. Head coach Dino Babers is in his first season as the Falcons’ head coach and has a 26-13 record in three seasons as a head coach overall.
The Falcons lead the nation in transitioning from their previous offensive play to the next. Quarterback Jame Knapke assumed the starting job after Matt Johnson suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of the season. Knapke has thrown for 2,805 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season. He has rushed for 126 yards a two touchdowns.
South Alabama enters the game as a 3-point favorite. The Falcons enter the game on a three-game losing skid after being blown out in the MAC championship by Northern Illinois 51-17. The Jaguars enter the game after a heartbreaking loss at home to Navy 42-40 after the Jags had two successful 2-point conversions negated by penalties before failing the convert the third attempt.
Here is a breakdown of stats between the two teams:
Jags final practice in Mobile; JUCO signing day
Photos: usajaguars.com
South Alabama closed out their final practice at home on Tuesday morning and, in what has become a tradition at USA, the underclassmen carried the seniors off the practice field following the team’s final home practice.
The team then loaded buses and arrived in Montgomery Tuesday afternoon to finish out their preparations in Montgomery for Saturday’s bowl game.
The Jaguars will practice at Huntingdon College on Wednesday and Thursday then have a walk-through session at the Cramton Bowl on Friday. But they will also be participating in some of the bowl festivities leading up to the game.
In the midst of all of this, Wednesday is the first day that Junior College transfers can sign National Letter of Intent’s. In what may be their best recruiting year ever for this young team, they expect to sign up to five JuCo players today.
Tight end James Bynes of Dodge City (Kansas) Community College, defensive back Quinton Lane of Itawamba (Mississippi) Community College and wide receiver Tyrone Williams of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College are among the student-athletes expected to sign.
Three UAB players have announced their intentions to enroll at South Alabama in January with more of their teammates expected to join them. Offensive linemen Lee Dufour, Cameron Blankenship and quarterback Austin Chipoletti have all announced their intentions. A twitter account bearing the name of UAB quarterback Cody Clements said he was transfering to USA, but it is uncertain if that is true.
Head coach Joey Jones and defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Turner are looking to fill needs. Turner told AL.com that they are looking to sign up to five JUCO players and possibly add more to that list depending on the UAB situation. The five players they are targeting are for positions where they need help immediately.
The hiring of Bryant Vincent seems to have sparked more excitement in the offense. Quarterback Brandon Bridge said he was very pleased with the pace of the offense since Vincent took over. Even coach Jones said that there has been a different feel in practices recently.
So much focus has been on the change on the offensive side of the ball, but the Jaguar defense will be tested as well. Bowling Green leads the country in how quickly it can transition from one play to the next of offense. This has created challenges for defenses all season and it will be something the Jags must be prepared for.
Communication will be key. There may be times when coaches cannot get the call in quickly enough and the players must be able to identify certain formations and be able to communicate that to their teammates so they can check into certain coverages or defensive fronts.
The excitement for the bowl game and the good practices the team has had over the last few days should have every fan excited. This will be the Jaguars time to shine in their first-ever prime time national television broadcast.
South Alabama and Bowling Green kick off at 8:15pm on Saturday in Montgomery for the Raycom Camellia Bowl at the Cramton Bowl. USA has sold out of their allotment of tickets. If you do not have your tickets yet, you better get them quick. They are selling quickly with reports of only a “few hundred” left.
Camellia Bowl Ticket allotment sold out; Coach Jones announces uniform selection
Two announcements on Monday concerning the Jaguars first-ever bowl game.
Monday morning an email went out announced that there were only 50 tickets remaining in the Jaguars allotment for the Camellia Bowl. But sometime before noon they were sold out.
On the Joey Jones radio show, Coach Jones announced that the team will be wearing their Jungle Smoke uniforms. This will be the second time they have worn them with the first being against Navy on November 28.
Vincent returns to USA as Offensive Coordinator
Quarterbacks coach Bryant Vincent during preseason camp in 2012. Vincent returns to South Alabama, this time as offensive coordinator, after filling that same position at UAB under former Jaguar defensive coordinator Bill Clark for one season until the UAB program was disbanded recently.
After much speculation after former offensive coordinator Robert Matthews was dismissed, including reports earlier in the week that Bryant Vincent had already been hired, it was officially announced the Vincent will return to South Alabama as the Jaguars new offensive coordinator.
Vincent filled the same position at UAB this season and led one of the nations biggest offensive turnarounds. Previous to his one-year stint at UAB he was at South Alabama for three seasons where, in his first season, he coached tight ends before spending the next two seasons coaching quarterbacks. Before joining the Jaguars staff he was the head coach at Spanish Fort High School where he led the Toros to a state championship.
In addition to being the offensive coordinator, Vincent will coach the quarterbacks.
His first and only season as an offensive coordinator at UAB, the Blazers averaged 431.8 yards per game and 212.1 yards rushing while averaging 33.2 points per game. UAB was bowl eligible for the first time since 2004 before the decision to shut down the football program was made. The Blazers scored 40+ points on five occasions and enters the bowl season ranked in the top 40 nationally in four different statistical categories including rushing offense (33), scoring offense (37), completion percentage (32) and third-down conversions (40).
Four Blazers would earn all-Conference honors from the offense including first-team selection Jordan Howard who finished seventh in the nation in rushing and 20th in rushing touchdowns after putting up 1,587 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“Bryant Vincent is a complete football coach. He’s a great recruiter, a great motivator and has a very good offensive mind,” head coach Joey Jones said of Vincent. “He went up to UAB and did extremely well, they were scoring a lot of points including 34 against Mississippi State; watching them play, you could see they had an explosive offense. It’s great to have him back.”
“I’m very excited to be back. In my opinion South Alabama is a gold mine, it’s a first-class university with first-class people and facilities,” Vincent said. “Coach Jones has done a great job building this program from the ground up, I’m really excited to be a part of it again and hope to help build on the momentum that has been established here.
“Offensively, we want to play fast with a true fast tempo, we want to be able to stretch the field vertically, have a power running game, and be able to get the ball out on the perimeter and down the field. We want to put the ball in our playmakers’ hands in space and let them make plays.”
Vincent is scheduled to be back with the staff for today’s practice and will be part of the team for the Jaguars bowl game against Bowling Green on Saturday, December 20.
10 Jaguars Honors on All-Sun Belt Teams
The 2014 All-Sun Belt Conference team was released yesterday and South Alabama did not place anyone on the first-team though they did six players on the second team and four others receiving honorable mention selections.
Offensive lineman Ucambre Williams, wide receiver Shavarez Smith, linebacker Maleki Harris, defensive back Terrell Brigham, defensive lineman Jerome McClain and defensive lineman Theo Rich were all selected to the second-team. Offensive linemen Chris May and Melvin Meggs, defensive lineman Jesse Kelley and defensive back Montell Garner were all honorable mentions.
Additionally, one player from each of the 11 schools were selected to the All-Newcomer team with tight end Braedon Bowman being selected to represent South Alabama on that list.
Georgia Southern’s Willie Fritz was selected as the Coach of the Year. Louisiana-Lafayette running back Elijah McGuire was selected Sun Belt Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. Texas State’s David Mayo was named the Defensive Player of the Year and Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb was selected as Freshman of the Year.
Here is the full list:
All-Sun Belt First Team Offense
- Fredi Knighten (Arkansas State, Jr., QB)
- Matt Breida (Georgia Southern, So., RB)
- Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., RB)
- Donovan Harden (Georgia State, Jr., WR)
- Joshua McCain (Idaho, Sr., WR)
- Rashon Ceaser (UL Monroe, Jr., WR)
- Brad Miller (Texas State, Sr., TE)
- Kendall Lamm (Appalachian State, Sr., OL)
- Garrett Frye (Georgia Southern, Sr., OL)
- Manrey Saint-Amour (Georgia Southern, Sr., OL)
- Daniel Quave (UL Lafayette, Sr., OL)
- Valerian Ume-Ezeoke (New Mexico State, Sr., OL)
All- Sun Belt First Team Defense
- Justin Hamilton (UL Lafayette, Sr., DL)
- Christian Ringo (UL Lafayette, Sr., DL)
- Gerrand Johnson (UL Monroe, Jr., DL)
- Michael Odiari (Texas State, Sr., DL)
- Qushaun Lee (Arkansas State, Sr., LB)
- Edwin Jackson (Georgia Southern, Sr., LB)
- David Mayo (Texas State, Sr., LB)
- Doug Middleton (Appalachian State, Jr., DB)
- Artez Brown (Arkansas State, Sr., DB)
- Mitch Lane (UL Monroe, Jr., DB)
- Montres Kitchens (Troy, Jr., DB)
- David Mims (Texas State, Jr., DB)
All- Sun Belt First Team Special Teams
- Justin Manton (UL Monroe, Sr., PK)
- Austin Rehkow (Idaho, So., P)
- Chandler Worthy (Troy, Sr., RS)
- Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., All Purpose)
All-Sun Belt Second Team Offense
- Kevin Ellison (Georgia Southern, So., QB)
- Marcus Cox (Appalachian State, So., RB)
- Michael Gordon (Arkansas State, Jr. RB)
- Ajalen Holley (UL Monroe, So., WR)
- Teldrick Morgan (New Mexico State, So., WR)
- Shavarez Smith (South Alabama, Sr., WR)
- Joel Ruiz (Georgia State, Jr., TE)
- Mike Marboe (Idaho, Sr., OL)
- Mykhael Quave (UL Lafayette, Jr., OL)
- Ucambre Williams (South Alabama, Sr., OL)
- Terrence Jones (Troy, Sr., OL)
- Adrian Bellard (Texas State, Jr., OL)
All-Sun Belt Second Team Defense
- Ronald Blair (Appalachian State, Jr., DL)
- Ja’Von Rolland-Jones (Arkansas State, Fr., DL)
- Jerome McClain (South Alabama, Sr., DL)
- Theo Rich (South Alabama, Sr., DL)
- John Law (Appalachian State, So., LB)
- Joseph Peterson (Georgia State, Jr., LB)
- Hunter Kissinger (UL Monroe, Jr., LB)
- Maleki Harris (South Alabama, Sr., LB)
- Matt Dobson (Georgia Southern, JR., DB)
- Corey Trim (UL Lafayette, Sr., DB)
- Terrell Brigham (South Alabama, Sr., DB)
- Craig Mager (Texas State, SR., DB)
All-Sun Belt Second Team Special Teams
- Hunter Stover (UL Lafayette, Sr., PK)
- Justin Manton (UL Monroe, Sr., P)
- Blaise Taylor (Arkansas State, Fr., RS)
- Chandler Worthy (Troy, Sr., All Purpose)
Sun Belt Player of the Year
- Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., RB)
Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year
- Elijah McGuire (UL Lafayette, So., RB)
Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year
- David Mayo (Texas State, Senior, LB)
Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
- Taylor Lamb (Appalachian State, Fr., QB)
Sun Belt Coach of the Year
- Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern