The Jags Rally For A Big Win To End The Regular Season On Senior Night
Martino Brock slamming the ball home and taking the momentum away from the Pioneers in the second half of the game at the Mitchell Center.
The Jags rally from a seemingly insurmountable deficit on Senior night to beat Denver Thursday at the Mitchell Center in their regular season finale. This win puts the Jags at 16-14 overall and 8-10 in the Sun Belt Conference while Denver falls to 16-12 and 9-8 in the Sun Belt.
Denver opened the game with a three pointer, which was the theme of the first half. The Pioneers would go 9-13 from three point range and hold the Jags to a season low of scoring in the first half to build a 33-19 lead at halftime.
The second half would be different though.
Denver would come out of the halftime break to go on a 12-4 run while forcing the Jags into three turnovers on their way to a 45-23 lead with 15:11 left in the game.
The Jags pulled together and went on a 14-0 run to cut the Denver lead to 8 points. In the span of six possessions, the Pioneers would turn the ball over five times. But once Denver ended their scoring drought with a lay-up, the Jags would go on a 6-0 run with four of them coming from freshman Jayson Guerrier.
Denver would score on a lay-up with 6:38 left in the game to extend the Pioneer lead back to six. But this is when Tim Williams would take over. Williams would make two free-throws with 2:55 left. Then he would also nail a three pointer with 1:30 left to cut the Poineer lead to one point at 49-48.
Denver would go to the line and only make one of two free-throw attempts, but would get the rebound off the miss but would promptly turn it over to the Jaguars. On the ensuing Jaguar possession, Williams would knock down a three pointer with 31 seconds left to give the Jags their first lead since the 7:06 mark in the first half.
Denver would turn the ball over once more, for their 21st of the game, and send Williams to the line once more. He would hit the first but miss the second to extend the Jags lead to 52-50.
However, Denver would make a shot from the baseline to tie it at 52.
Williams would bring the ball up the court then on the dribble drive, he would shoot an awkward looking shot that would kiss high off the glass and bank in with second seconds left to give the Jags a two point advantage at 54-52.
The Pioneers had two chances to tie the game at the end but could not get a shot to go.
After the game Coach Arrow said, “This was a game of nothing but pride and heart. In the second half, I thought we played our style. The press was the difference in the game. It caused more turnovers for them, and I really think they got tired. They didn’t make a three in the second half. I think their legs got a little tired.”
Furthermore he said, “We wanted to send our seniors out as winners and we did that. I think that was really important. But the bottom line is we as coaches can’t make players play. They have to go out there and do their thing. It’s a war out there and they decided in the second half that it was a war and they were going to show up for it and do something about it. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Tim Williams scored half of his points in the game in the final three minutes of the game. He ended the game with a game-high 22 points. Javier Carter was the only other Jag in double figures with 13 coming off the bench.
The three seniors, brothers Charles and Philip Tabet along with Bryan Sherrer, were honored before the game. Both Charles and Philip started while Sherrer was on the bench with his knee injury.
The next game for the Jags will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on March 6-9. The opponent will be officially named on Sunday, but early indications point to a rematch between the Jags and the Pioneers.
Two Jags Score Double-Double’s As Jags Down Louisiana-Lafayette
Junior Tim Williams and Freshman Martino Brock both scored double-doubles as the Jags battle from behind to beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 67-65 last night in the Mitchell Center. The win puts the Jags at 15-12 for the season and 7-8 in the Sun Belt while the Cajuns fall to 11-14 overall and 8-6 in the Sun Belt.
The Jags came out and got a very early lead, but the Cajuns would overtake them and keep the lead well into the second half. At halftime, the Jags were down 35-25 after shrinking the Cajun lead but allowed them to pull back away in the final minutes of the half.
The second half saw many momentum swings. Back-to-back three-pointers from Brock and Williams to quickly cut the Cajun lead to four, 35-31 before a long delay by the officials while they reviewed an altercation between the Cajuns and Tabet that forced Tabet to leave the game for medical attention for a cut.
After the stoppage, the red hot Jags cooled off and the ULL scored the next five points. Then the Jags answered with a 9-2 run. But once again the momentum would shift and the Cajuns’ Tyren Johnson would score seven consecutive points all by himself.
Brock and Williams would take the momentum back for South Alabama by scoring seven points between them before Johnson converted a three-point play. But Tim Williams nailed a clutch trey with 7:22 left in the game to cut the Cajun lead to two points, 52-50.
Finally Allyn Cooks would give the Jags the lead again with a lay-up, 55-54. He would then cap off the 8-0 run with a three-pointer, pushing the Jags out to a 58-54 lead. But then Johnson would score the next four points to tie the game at 58.
Four Jaguar free-throws would break the tie in favor of South Alabama, 62-58. But once again, Johnson would be a thorn in the Jaguars side scoring five consecutive points of the Cajuns seven to regain the lead 65-62.
With some of the crowd thinking that the Jags were going to let this one slip away, Tim Williams would sink two free-throws to put the Jags down by one with seconds to go. After a turnover, Brock would come away with the rebound after a missed three by Williams and lay it in for a 66-65 lead with 23 seconds remaining.
Randell Daigle of the Cajuns would miss a jumper with 13 seconds remaining and Brock would come away with the rebound and would be fouled. Brock hit one of his two shots for the Jags winning score, 67-65. Daigle would miss a desperation three with two seconds remaining to end the game.
Coach Arrow after the game. “To win close games, you’ve got to have guys that will make plays. Tim made some big jump shots and made his free throws, and Martino had a big rebound and a put-back. We took care of the ball for the most part and we got stops.”
The Jags tied their season high in 3-pointers with nine and went 7-for-11 from 3-point range after halftime.
The Jags will take their final road swing next week as they travel to Western Kentucky on Thursday for a 7pm matchup. Then on Saturday they travel to Middle Tennessee for another 7pm matchup.