Rubit Earns His Record Setting Fourth Consecutive All-Sun Belt Team Honor
Rubit sets yet another Jaguar record with his fourth consecutive All-Sun Belt Conference Team honor. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Augustine Rubit has not finished adding to his record setting career just yet. He set another school record on Tuesday when he was selected by conference coaches and media to the All-Sun Belt Conference team for the fourth consecutive year.
Rubit, a second-team selection this season, was a third-team selection in 2011 and a first-team selection in 2012 and 2013. This season he was the sixth leading scorer in the conference with an average of 17 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He shot 46.3% from the floor and earned 12 double-doubles. He also finished the season fourth in blocks per game with 1.4. The 12 double-doubles and his rebounding average was third-best in the conference too.
In the Jaguars 31 games this season he scored 20+ points in 10 of them, including a career-high 35 points against #16 Gonzaga. He only failed three times to reach double-digits scoring this season.
He set the schools rebounding record in November, surpassed the 1,000 rebound mark in December and became the Sun Belt Conference’s All-Time leader a week later. He ends his career with 1,183 as well as holds three of the top five spots in the school’s single-season list.
Rubit also set school records with career free throws made (550), career free throws attempted (763), and double-doubles (54). He ranks second in points scored (1,917), fifth in field goals made (673), 3rd in field goals attempted (1,360), third in rebounding average (10.0), 3rd in blocks (139) and tied for 2nd in games played (118).
He was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week six times in his career, most by any player in school history as well.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Roundup
Men’s Basketball
The Men’s team defeated UT-Arlington behind the leadership of the teams two seniors, Augustine Rubit and Antoine Allen, who combined to score 42 points to end their Jaguar careers on a high note with a 78-73 win.
Rubit earned his 54th career double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, with 14 points and 10 reboudns coming in the second half alone. Allen scored 24 points with 16 of them coming in the first half. Allen nailed five three-pointers and a season-high seven rebounds.
Rubit’s Jaguar historic career ends with him in 2nd place in points, 5th place in field goals made, 3rd place in field goals attempted, 1st in free throws made and attempted, 1st in rebounds, 3rd in rebounding average, 3rd in blocks, 1st in double-doubles, and tied for 2nd in games played. He recoreded a double-double in his first game as a Jaguar and the final game as a Jaguar.
“Well first and foremost, congratulations to our two seniors, Antoine Allen and Augustine Rubit,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “Even though we didn’t play in the conference tournament, they hung tough and we finished the season with two wins. What a way to go out.”
“I think this is arguably Antoine’s best game that he has played all season,” Graves noted. “I was really proud of his effort. I thought he played more within himself tonight than he did the entire season so that’s a really big positive.”
Ken Williams and Mychal Ammons both scored 13 points each with Ammons recorded three blocks. Barrington Stevens III had five assits with only one turnover. The Jags held the Sun Belt’s leading scorer to 11 points on 2-of-17 shooting and 1-of-11 from 3-point range. He entered the game averaging 20.5 points per game.
Women’s basketball
The South Alabama women’s basketball team finished out the season with a 60-57 win over UT-Arlington as Meghan Dunn scored a career-high 23 points, including four pivotal free throws in overtime to give USA the win.
The team said farewell to seniors: Dunn, Jennifer Johnson, Olivia Mohler and Ronneka Robertson.
Softball
The Jaguar softball team won four of their five games over the weekend at the Parents’ Weekend Invitational in Boca Raton, Florida. The Jags opened the weekend with a 1-0 win over Marshall. Then came back in the nightcap and lost 1-0 to Virginia Tech.
Against Marshall Farish Beard was on top of her game and retired 19 consecutive batters to give the Jaguars a chance to win the game.
In the bottom of the sixth inning Amanda Minahan led off the inning with a single, then Gwen Jones replaced her to pinch run. Then Junior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith delivered a two-out RBI triple to being Jones home and provide the winning margin for USA.
Against Virginia Tech the Jaguars leadoff hitter got on base in five of the seven innings but none of them could get home. The Jags left seven runners on base in the game with Stephanie Pilkington being the only Jaguar to record a hit by going 2-for-3. Emily Messer, Amanda Minahan and Taylor Rodgers all drew walks.
Hannah Campbell retired 18 consecutive batters to start the the game. In the bottom of the seventh Hokie Kylie McGOldrick led off the inning with a double to the left center gap. Katey Smith would single to center field to drive McGoldrick in for the winning run.
USA had an opportunity in the second inning after Griffith and Minahan were hit by pitches in back-to-back at-bats, then Rodgers would draw a walk but back-to-back strikeouts would end the Jaguars’ threat.
Campbell finished with five strikeouts and only one walk.
On Saturday they defeated Illinois 5-3 in an afternoon game then turned around and defeated host Florida Atlantic 7-1 in the nightcap.
The Illini jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, then doubled it with a leadoff solo homerun in the second inning. But the Jags would respond in the bottom of the second when Chloe Rathburn delivered her own solo leadoff homer to cut the lead to 2-1.
Down 3-1 in the top of the third, Amanda Minahan got the first of her three RBI ont he day with a single that scored Rodgers. Pilkington then scored on a fielders choice to tie the game at 3-3.
Illinois threatened in the top of the fifth after back-to-back hits, but Campbell retired consecutive batters to end the threat.
In the bottom of the sixth with Kaitlyn Griffith on base after being hit by a pitch, Alex Breeden belted her fourth homer of the season for the winning margin, 5-3.
On Sunday they defeated Illinois again 5-2 in eight innings.
Baseball
The Jaguars sweeped the weekend series from Southern Illinois to improve to 8-7 on the season.
On Friday night, second baseman Matt Bolger delivered a walk-off RBI in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Jags the first game 4-3.
In game two on Saturday, Locke St. John struck out a career-high five batters in eight innings to lead the Jags to a 4-1 win to clinch the series. He only allowed one run and five hits for the game.
St. John threw eight consecutive scoreless innings before surrendering a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning. James Traylor pitched one scoreless inning to earn his first save of the season. He walked two and struck out one in the one inning of relief.
Not content on just clinching the series, the Jags returned on Sunday to finish off SIU, but it would go into an extra inning to do so.
Hayden Jones delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th for the Jaguars to secure the 5-4 win and the sweep.
Jaguar Davis Knapp got on base by being hit by a pitch. He would then move to third on a one-out single to left-center field by Bud Collura. Then Jones would fly a 0-1 pitch to left field allowing Knapp to tag up and score the winning run.
SIU fell to 8-6 on the season while the Jags got above .500 at 8-7.
Rubit’s Record-Setting 53rd Double-Double Leads Jags Over Texas State
Augustine Rubit broke a tie between him and Terry Catledge by earning his 53rd career double-double as a Jaguar. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Senior Augustine Rubit earned a school-record 53rd double-double of his career to lead the Jaguars to a 63-53 win over Texas State on Thursday night at the Mitchell Center. His double-double broke a tie with Terry Catledge for the most double-doubles in school history.
Rubit scored 14 points and came down with 11 rebounds in the game with four steals, two blocks, and two assists as the Jaguars never trailed in the game.
A strong defensive effort by USA held the Bobcats in check throughout most of the first half by only allowing 10 points through the first 16+ minutes of the game. TSU only made five of their 22 field goal attempts and shot 27.6% in the first half.
Though the Jaguars did not shoot much better with a 33.3% mark in the first half themselves. Rubit and Antoine Allen accounted for 17 of the teams 31 first half points.
Texas State scored the first six points of the second half to draw near but an 8-1 run by USA stretched the lead by out to 13 points about midway through the second half.
Again Texas State made a run by scoring eight unanswered points and 12 of 15 points scored to cut the lead four with just over five minutes remaining. But Allen and Williams both hit buckets to double the lead and would only allow the Bobcats to close to within five points twice over the final 2.5 minutes. Williams finally put the nail in the coffin with a three-pointer with 1:20 left in the game.
Allen was the only other Jaguar to score in double-figures with 13 points to go along with his two steals and two assists.
All nine Jags saw action in the game.
“I’m really proud of the team,” coach Matthew Graves said. “The guys did a tremendous job of coming out and playing hard out of the gate. We talked about this week, everybody is aware that we weren’t playing for the opportunity to go to the conference tournament, which is certainly disappointing, and the players could have easily given up and not played as hard and ridden off into the sunset. But they hung tough and I was really encouraged, especially in the first half, by how hard the guys were playing. They were really sharing the basketball.”
“In the second half we started off very flat and reverted back into some bad habits that have crept in and we were able to regroup in time and force a lot of turnovers. This might have been our season high in turnovers that we forced and I thought overall defensively, except for a few times in the post, this was one of our better efforts on the year.”
South Alabama will conclude their 2013-2014 season at the Mitchell Center on Saturday against Texas-Arlington with tipoff scheduled for 7:05pm on Senior Night. The Lady Jaguars will play beforehand and will honor their Seniors prior to their game as well.
USA will be bidding farewell to two Seniors, Antoine Allen and Augustine Rubit. Come out on Saturday and send those two out on a high note.
USA Men’s Basketball Cannot Overcome ULL’s Fast Start
South Alabama could not overcome a fast start by Louisiana-Lafayette and a 25-point halftime lead to fall 102-76 on Sunday in the Cajundome.
ULL used a 25-6 run over an 11-minute span in the first half to score the most first half points against the Jaguars all season. Bryant Mbamalu scored a game-high 32 points for the Cajuns and 11 of his 17 first half points in the opening 4:07 of the game.
Freshman Ken Williams recorded a career-high 22 points on five three-pointers. Sophomore Barrington Stevens III added a career-high 20 points while going 4-for-4 from outside the arc. They combined to score 31 of the Jaguars 49 points in the second half.
Augustine Rubit narrowly missed another double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds as he added four blocks to earn his way into the top 25 in the conference in this category.
This was the first Jaguar opponent to score over 100 points on the Jaguars since New Orleans on February 5, 1995.
With the loss, the Jaguars fall to 9-20 overall and 3-13 in conference play and only one game in the win column behind eighth place and the final seed in the conference tournament.
With the loss the Jaguars were eliminated from the Sun Belt Tournament and with that news Augustine Rubit’s phenominal career in a South Alabama jersey will conclude on Saturday against UT-Arlington.
The Jags will face Texas State on Thursday and UT-Arlington on Saturday to close out the season and hopefully have some positive momentum going into the offseason.
Men’s Basketball Falls At ULM
The South Alabama men’s basketball team was outscored 36-21 in the second half as Louisiana-Monroe coasted to a 71-54 win on Thursday night.
The Jags shot only 26.9% from the floor after halftime en route to scoring the fewest points of the season. A 16-3 run late in the game secured the victory for the Warhawks.
USA falls to 9-19 overall and 3-12 in conference play while ULM improves to 9-14 overall and 6-9 in conference play.
Augustine Rubit was the only Jaguar in double digits scoring with 14, which was enough to move him into second place in the school’s All-Time scoring list with 1,868 points and into ninth place in Sun Belt history.
All five of ULM’s starters scored in double-digits. Jayon James had a game high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Chinedu Amajoyi added 12 points and eight rebounds, Nick Coppola added 11 points and six assists and Tylor Ongwae and Marvin Williams both scored 10 points each.
“I really wanted see how we would come out and perform because we knew this was a game we needed to compete and win if we wanted to continue our season in the conference tournament,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “I thought we started off OK, not great, but we were in the game. We got down 10 in the first half and I thought our team showed a lot of resolve and came back and tied the game. But in the last four minutes we had three turnovers that got them in a rhythm.”
“At the start of the second half I was really disappointed in how we came out of the locker room,” Graves continued. “We missed a loose ball, got scored on in the post and it really snowballed from there. In this game, you’ve got to be strong and physical and have to want contact. They were the more physical, more aggressive team, and nine times out of 10 when that happens, you’re not going to come out on the side you want.”
The Jags play their final road game of the season on Sunday at Louisiana-Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm and in addition to the normal WNSP broadcast, it will also be available on the Sun Belt Network so check your local listings for availability.
USA Men’s Basketball Face ULM Tonight
South Alabama kicks off their final road swing of the regular season this evening against Louisiana-Monroe. The Jags used a hot first half against Troy to earn a much needed win 86-78 in their last game on Saturday.
The Jags are one game behind Troy and Texas State, who are both at 4-10 and tied for the eighth and final spot into the Sun Belt Conference Championship with four games left in the regular season.
ULM enters the game with an 8-14 record overall and a 5-9 record in conference play. The Jags lost to the Warhawks on January 18th at the Mitchell Center 64-58.
The two teams rank near each other in the Sagarin rankings. The Jags are ranked 241st while the Warhawks are ranked 232nd. The game can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP or WNSP.com starting around 6:30pm with the pregame show and tipoff at 7pm.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Roundup
Men’s Basketball
The Men’s basketball team took Coach Graves’ words to heart and went out and dominated the first half against Troy to help earn a 86-78 win on Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.
“What I told our guys was, this is a must win game,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “If you want to compete in New Orleans for a conference championship you have to win tonight. I thought our energy and effort from the opening tip was outstanding. We got off to a great start. The first half was as well-played a first half that we’ve had all year, on both ends of the floor. Then, in the second half, we really played to protect the lead instead of just playing the game and keep attacking. We got really conservative and I thought Troy got on a great run there. They have some tremendous shooters. Certainly if you give up 54 points in a half, you don’t expect to win very often, but our guys made enough plays down the stretch.”
The Jags jumped out to a 26 point lead in the first half but Troy would cut the lead down to only six points on two occasions in the second half but the Jags reponded each time to keep their hopes for a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament alive.
Rubit earned a double-double in the game with a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. He also set a new career high with five assists while going 8-for-15 from the floor with two blocks. He also tied Terry Catledge for career double-doubles with 52 as he earned his 10th of the season.
Five Jaguars scored in double digits, a season-high for the team. Ken Williams added 18 points, one shy of a career high, with four assists. Senior Antoine Allen added 15 points off the bench while sophomore Barrington Stevens III and junior Mychal Ammons added 11 points each.
Williams scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half going 4-of-6 from three-point range. But then did not score again until 6:39 left in the second half, though they came at a key time for the Jaguars.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Williams sparked South Alabama to a 26-7 run to open the game.
Troy went on a 12-3 run as the Jaguars went almost six minutes without a field goal with 7:29 left in the game. But the Jags would answer with the next five points to stretch the lead back out to double digits.
“I thought we were flat,” Troy head coach Phil Cunningham said. “As I told the coaches before we left the huddle in the first half that we were flat. It’s obvious how big of a game this was, but I just sensed that we were flat. But I also sensed at halftime that we could get back in the game because in the last couple minutes of the first half, we made that little run on them. Give them credit, they made shots. They were lighting that thing up from everywhere in the first half.”
“I do think fatigue played a little bit of a factor,” Graves said of Troy’s comeback attempt. “We were on the road Thursday and with the quick turnaround and Aakim’s (Saintil) limited minutes due to foul trouble. I think those guys got tired, but at the same time, Troy has a couple guys that can really shoot the basketball. When they get feeling good and get in a rhythm, they’re certainly capable of making shots. We missed a couple switches and a couple things on our rotation. In large part, it was due to our fatigue and you have to credit Troy because they could have easily rolled over, but they kept fighting until the end.”
The Jaguars have a two-game road swing this week to close out their road games for the regular season. They will continue their fight to get into the conference tournament when they travel to Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday for a 7pm game.
Softball
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.
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.