USA Loses Heartbreaker To Texas State On Last Second Free Throws In Overtime
The South Alabama men’s basketball team fought hard down the stretch and rallied from a five point deficit with 36.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. But two late free throws gave Texas State the 67-66 win in overtime.
A three-pointer from sophomore Barrington Stevens III tied the game with under 19 seconds left in the game. Stevens had a chance to win the game with a layup but it would not go sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, neither team led by more than two points and the final six points all came from the free throw line. A three-pointer from Augustine Rubit with under 42 seconds left in the game put the Jaguars up 64-63.
Joel Wright sunk two free throws to give the Bobcats a 65-64 advantage. On the Jaguars next possession, Mychal Ammons was fouled and sunk both of his free throw attempts to regain the lead 66-65.
After a Texas State time out, they got the ball into Wright’s hands and a foul was called on Ammons as he was driving the baseline with two seconds left. Wright sunk both of his attempts to give the Bobcats the victory.
“We have good kids in that locker room and they care,” head basketball coach Matthew Graves said after the game. “We just need to understand that you have to play a full 40 minutes, and in this case a full 45, and we just had too many lapses tonight where we didn’t have enough of a sense of urgency from start to finish.”
“Our shot selection late in the first half really hurt us,” Graves continued. “We took three bad shots in a row and didn’t work the basketball. In the second half, we showed some resolve. We were down five with 30 seconds to go and Barrington made a really nice play and scored. In overtime, it went back and forth. We did some nice things and it came down to that last play.”
Rubit finished the game with seven rebounds and 22 points, which puts him in 12th place in Sun Belt History in points scored. Mychal Ammons earned a double-double, his first back-to-back since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, with 15 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with two seconds left in the overtime period.
No other Jaguar scored in double-digits.
Reid Koenen scored 26 points for the Bobcats. Joel Wright added 21 points and eight rebounds. Only four other Bobcats scored points in the game, none scored more than six.
The loss puts USA in a tough position with an 8-18 record overall and a 2-11 record in conference play, they are two games out of the eighth and final spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with five games left to play. They play Texas State again in just under two weeks but first they host Troy on Saturday. Tip off is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
USA Men’s Basketball Faces Texas State Tonight
South Alabama and Texas State will face each other for the first time on the hardwood tonight in San Marcos, Texas.
The Jags enter the game after an impressive win over rival Western Kentucky on the road to pick up their first road victory of the season and improving their overall record to 8-17, 2-10 in conference play. The win also kept their hopes alive for a post-season berth in the SBC Conference Tournament in New Orleans.
Texas State is 7-18 overall and 3-9 in conference play and coming off of a 68-41 loss to Sun Belt leading Georgia State. A win in this game would even the Jaguars conference record with the bobcats with five games to go.
The Jags are two games behind Troy for the eighth and final spot in in the Conference Tournament. In the final six games of the season, USA will face Texas State twice and has Troy in Mobile.
The game can be heard on 105.5FM WNSP and their website WNSP.com.
USA Women Drop Fourth Straight Game On Last Second Shot
The Jaguar Women’s basketball team battled back from a 12-point deficit at halftime only to lose 63-61 on a shot at the buzzer that would not fall.
Meghan Dunn led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line. This was her eighth straight double-digit scoring game and her 17th of the season. She scored 13 of her 18 in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Johnson added 12 points off the bench with a game-high eight rebounds as she went 5-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from outside the arc. She also added three blocks which was just one shy of tying her career high.
Ronneka Robertson was also in double figures with 10 points.
Texas State improved to 12-12 overall, 9-4 in Conference play. This was their sixth win in their last seven games.
The Jags fall to 7-16 overall and 5-8 in Conference play as they have lost their fourth consecutive game. They will return to action on Saturday night at the Mitchell Center against Troy in their “Pink Zone” game. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:05pm.
USA Softball Downs UAB 2-1 In 11 Innings
The #19 ranked South Alabama Jaguar softball team needed 11 innings to eventually defeat UAB 2-1 in Birmingham yesterday.
UAB took the lead 1-0 in the fourth inning but freshman right fielder Amanda Minahan came through in the clutch by delivering a two-out game-tying RBI in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings.
The Jaguars junior catcher Alex Breeden would later hit a routine grounder to shortstop, but the throw would sail wide of first base and allowing Kaitlyn Griffith to score the go-ahead, and eventual game-winning, run in the top of the 11th inning.
Senior Hannah Campbell got a no decision as she pitched 7 1/3 innings with five strikeouts, one earned run and no walks. Farish Beard earned the win by pitching 3 2/3 innings of relief with seven strikeouts. She retired the last three batters in order.
UAB’s Lannah Campbell, Hannah’s sister, suffered the loss for the Blazers and falls to 0-3 on the season. She struck out two and allowed the game-winning run, though it was unearned. Leigh Streetman was the starter for the Blazers and pitched 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
Though the Blazers outhit the Jags 9-8, but they committed two errors to the Jaguars one.
This was the longest game for the Jags since an 11 inning game against Troy in 2010 at Jaguar Field. The team is now 16-1 in their last 17 road games dating back to the 2013 season and have now won the last six meetings against the Blazers to improve their record against them to 9-2 all-time.
“This was the matchup people were looking for in opening night – a pitcher’s night,” Jaguar head coach Becky Clark said. “All four pitchers were sharp. There wasn’t a lot of offense, because there was good pitching and good defense. It was a great game.”
“I was proud of our freshmen tonight,” Clark continued. “They stepped up. Taylor Rodgers had some great at-bats. Minahan, Chloe [Rathburn] and those guys stepped up. They’ve been working really hard, and I’m proud of them.”
The 7-1 Jaguars will travel to Orlando this weekend for the Diamond 9 Classic at Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
USA Softball Face UAB This Afternoon
The #19 ranked South Alabama Jaguar softball team will be in action in Birmingham this afternoon as they take on the UAB Blazers at 4pm.
This is the second meeting between the two teams this season and is the first of six games this week for them.
The Jags opened the season with an 8-0 mercy-rule win over the then #21 ranked Blazers in the first game of the Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile. It was the first of five games that weekend for the Jaguars where they won each game to get off to their best start in program history.
UAB (3-6) is returning to action after going 2-3 in the Baylor Getterman Classic where their wins over Drake and Iowa were sandwiched between losses to #18 Missouri and #14 Baylor.
USA has an all-time record of 8-2 against the Blazers and have won the last five contests between the two teams. UAB posted an 18-3 record at home last season with the Jags being one of the three home losses.
The will travel to Orlando this weekend for five games at the Diamond 9 Classic held at Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
USA Hires Mike Adams To Coach Linebackers
Former South Carolina State defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Mike Adams will join the USA staff and coach linebackers. | Photo: scsuathletics.com
All but the official announcement has been released, but head coach Joey Jones has hired Mike Adams to fill one of the remaining positions on his staff.
Adams, the former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at South Carolina State will reportedly coach linebackers at South Alabama.
Adams joined the Bulldogs in 2006 as a defensive backs coach for two seasons before being promoted to defensive coordinator and changed his assignment to the linebackers.
While at SC State, his defense was regularly considered one of the best units in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the FCS ranks. He helped lead the team to MEAC championships in 2008 and 2009 and a share of the championship in 2010.
Adams began his coaching career at his alma mater Ball State in 1997 as a student assistant working with the linebackers. He was then an assistant coach at St. Joseph’s (Indiana) where he coached several positions. In 1998 he coached wide receivers and running backs, then in 1999 he moved to the defensive side coaching defensive backs for two seasons.
After the 2000 season he accepted a position at West Georgia where he spent five seasons as a defesive backs and special teams coach prior to SC State.
Adams graduated from Ball State in 1998 with a bachelor’s in sports administration.
His 2010 defensive unit at SC State finished in the top five in several defensive statistical categories. They finished first in the nation in total defense, rushing defense and passing defense. They finished second in the nation in scoring defense, sacks per game, Pass Efficiency Defense and 1st downs allowed. They finished fifth in 3rd down conversions and sixth in the nation in tackles for loss.
He coached the defensive player of the year for the MEAC, had one player named to the 1st Team All-Conference honors and five named 2nd Team All-Conference.
In an interview with WNSP, it was mentioned he had a recommendation from Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage.
Welcome Coach Adams!
USA Baseball Falls To Alabama State 5-0
The USA Baseball team fell at home to Alabama State on Tuesday night at Eddie Stanky Field, 5-0. The Jags could only muster four hits in the shutout.
ASU righty Mike Estevez threw five shutout innings while only allowing three hits with five strikeouts and five walks for his first win of the season. Jaguar lefty Jared Gates took the loss after sevens innings of work by allowing only one run on just three hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
The game started with ASU’s Richard Amion hitting a solo home run to left center field to put them up 1-0 in their first at-bat. Gates would then settle in and retire 18 of the next 19 batters he faced, with only a walk in the sixth inning as a blemish. He would then force the next batter into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Jags looked like they were even the game when Logan Kirkland singled to left field with a runner in scoring position, but the Hornet’s left fielder threw Davis Knapp out at the plate with a great throw.
Again, in the bottom of the seventh the Jags loaded the bases on three walks with two outs but the Hornet’s righty Hunter McIntosh worked himself out of the jack with a flyout to center ending the threat.
In the top of the eighth, ASU loaded the bases with one out before their catcher hit a two-run single to left field to put them up 3-0. The final runs of the game came in the top of the ninth on a two-run homer by Dexter Price.
The Jags left 14 runners on base.
The Jags (1-3) will travel to New Orleans this weekend for a three game series beginning at 6:30pm on Friday.
Men’s Basketball Ends Six-Game Skid And Sends WKU A Farewell Loss
The South Alabama men’s basketball team ended their six-game losing streak at Western Kentucky to bid farewell to the Hilltoppers, 69-62. This is the first road win for the Jaguars this season and could not have come at a better time.
The Jags never trailed in the game and built up a 19-point advantage at one point in the game. Augustine Rubit and Mychal Ammons both turned in double-double’s in the Jags final regular season game against WKU before they join Conference USA this summer.
Ammons led all players with a season-high 20 points and added 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. That was the most points by Ammons since December 1, 2012.
Rubit came away with a game-high 13 rebounds with 12 points and five blocks, tying his career best, to earn his first double-double in six games.
“We came in with a plan to win,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “The bottom line is our guys really communicated with one another. They understood this was a big game. This is a tough place to come in and play. Their fans are really good. We needed to come in here and play with energy and effort and communicate with each other, and from the opening tip we did that throughout the entire game.”
“I’m really proud,” Graves said. “It’s no secret Mychal has really struggled lately. Hopefully this will jumpstart him for the rest of the reason and we can continue to build off this. His mindset was just different tonight. He came in and attacked the rim. He didn’t settle too much. I’m really proud of how he bounced back.”
The Hilltoppers used two 10-2 runs in the second half to cut the 19-point Jaguar lead down to just seven with 5:32 left in the game. But Ammons and Rubit both held firm and answered each run to keep the Jaguars in the lead.
The Jags forced misses on three-consecutive possessions and got a layup from Aakim Saintil and three free throws from Antoine Allen adn Rubit to keep the Hilltoppers at bay.
“Well the one thing I told our players is WKU is a great program,” Graves said. “They have a culture and toughness about them, They’re going to make a run. We’ve just got to stay the course, continue to make hard cuts, and make good plays at the rim. Tonight, what we did different than in the past is when teams would make a run, we would settle for contested 3s or late-shot clock 3s and we did that a little tonight, but we also got a couple layups. Mike and Aug attacked the basket. We got to the free throw line. Guys stepped up for us and made some free throws for us down the stretch.”
Rubit passed Ed Rains for third place in school history and 13th place in conference history with 1,810 points and is only two away from 12th place. He also is within one double-double of Terry Catledge for first place in school history in the category with his 51st.
The Jags improve to 8-17 overall, 2-10 in conference play. While they are still in last place in Conference Standings, the Jags are only two games out of the eighth and final spot for in the conference tournament. The Jags have six games left this regular season.
The Jags will travel to Texas State on Thursday in the first of two games left this season against the Bobcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 7pm.
USA Softball Splits A Pair Of Games On Saturday
The Jaguar softball team went to Baton Rouge after their trip to Athens, Georgia was cancelled due to wintry weather. So instead they picked up two games against Northwestern and #21 LSU instead.
In the first game on Saturday, the Lady Jaguars fell 2-1 against Northwestern. But in the second game of the day, they would recover and defeat the Tigers by the same score, 2-1.
The Jags (6-1) will travel to UAB for a Wednesday game against the Blazers before they head to Orlando, Florida for the Diamond 9 Classic where they will face Indiana, Purdue University Fort Wayne, East Carolina, Lehigh, Mercer and Georgia.
USA’s Farish Beard took her first loss since April 18, 2012 against the Wildcats after giving up both runs (unearned) in the first inning. She hit the leadoff batter and she would eventually score on a Jaguar error. Mari Majam reached on the error and scored two batters later.
USA second baseman Julie Moss hit a sac fly to scored Amanda Minahan to cut the led to 2-1, but the Jags could not make any further inroads into the score.
Minahan, Chloe Rathburn and Alex Breeden all went 1-for-3 and represented the Jags only offensive production of the game. Beard struck out seven in five innings of work with only one walk.
In the second game the Jags wasted no time and loaded the bases in the top of the first inning.
Stephanie Pilkington drew a leadoff walk, then Blair Johnson reached on a fielding error by the LSU shortstop. Kaitlyn Griffith then singled to right center to load the bases for Rathburn, who hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Pilkington to score from third for an early 1-0 lead for USA.
In the bottom of the first, the Tigers evened the score with an RBI double to left center.
In the bottom of the fourth, LSU threatened with two runners on base with only one out, but Johnson executed a double play to get Hannah Campbell out of a pickle where she had hit a batter and allowed a single up the middle.
In the top of the fifth, Pilkington added to her team leading RBI total by driving in Emily Messer, who pinch ran for Taylor Rodgers after a walk.
USA Baseball Lose First Series Of Season To TTU
The South Alabama baseball team lost the series to Tennessee Tech over the weekend 2 games to 1.
On Friday night, the Jags took the game to the 11th inning before a bases loaded walk scored the eventual game-winning run in the top of the inning. Jag lefty James Traylor struck out the first two batters before allowing a single and two walks to load the bases.
The Jags had a 3-0 lead through the first two innings before TTU came back. But could not hold onto it and lost the first game 5-4.
In the second game on Saturday, the Jags scored five runs in the bottom of th eighth inning to defeat TTU 6-3. The Jags trailed 3-1 through seven-and-a-half innings before a two-run double down the right field line by Erik Hindmon tied it up. Drew LaBounty followed with a go-ahead single to center field to drive in Logan Kirkland. Cameron Cummings entered earlier in the game as a pinch-runner would get a RBI single to right field to score Cole Jarman, who came on to pinch run for Hindmon. Bud Collura then added the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Tripp Hobbs earned teh win in three innings of relief. He allowed only one run on two hits with four walks and a strikeout.
With the series tied at 1-each, USA and TTU both entered Sunday wanting to win the series. But TTU would score five runs in the fourth inning as they held on to a 5-4 series-clinching win.
The Jags led by a run through three innings after a two-out double in the first inning. But TTU’s Daniel Miles led off the fourth with a single before loading the bases with consecutive one-out walks. Jordan Hopkins then hit a two-run double downt he right-field line to give the Golden Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
David Allen then hit a two-out, two-run double to left-center to take a 4-1 lead. An RBI single through the left side of the infield game them a 5-1 lead and chased Jaguar righty Ben Taylor from the game. But the damage had already been done.
The Jags put the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, but a game-ending groundout ended the game.
USA returns to action on Tuesday when they host Alabama State at Eddie Stanky Field for a 6:30pm game.