MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama men’s basketball team finished with a 16-2 run and freshman Mychal Ammons (Vicksburg, Miss.) had a career-high 18 points and four blocks as the Jaguars defeated Florida Atlantic 65-56 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.
The Jaguars snap a two-game home skid to FAU to up their record to 12-9 overall and 4-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Owls have their three-game winning streak ended and fall to 9-13, 5-4.
“I’m so happy for our guys,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We’ve been up and down all year long and tonight our defense was really good. The two things, every time we’ve done them we’ve won, are free throws and taking care of the ball. I know we had 14 turnovers, but we had nine at halftime. When we’ve done well in those two categories, we’ve won the game. I’m just really happy for our guys. We played our hearts out tonight. In crucial times, late in the game, we didn’t turn the ball over like we have in some of these other games.”
Ammons added nine rebounds and shot 6-for-12 from the floor (2-for-2 from 3-point land). He also set a new personal-best with four blocks.
“We played him at the '4' spot tonight,” Arrow said. “He hasn’t played much '4' so he’s got double duty now. Hopefully, Javier (Carter) will be back Saturday, but Mychal is such a phenomenal athlete and strong. He’s got the body of a senior. Now if we catch up with what he needs experience-wise, he’s really going to be something to be reckoned with.”
Junior Freddie Goldstein (Milwaukee, Wis.) had 14 points and senior Antione Lundy (Saginaw, Mich.) added 10 and eight rebounds. Sophomore Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) grabbed 11 boards and junior Trey Anderson (Carrollton, Texas) dished out seven assists — tying his career high — with only one turnover.
Florida Atlantic held the lead for the first 15 minutes of the second half and extended it to as much as 10 early in the period.
A 3-pointer from Raymond Taylor gave the Owls a 54-49 advantage with 6:37 left in the contest. It would be FAU’s last points for over five minutes as USA reeled off 12 in a row and 16 of the next 18.
Anderson started the run with a layup to cut the margin to three and Goldstein tied it up with a triple from the left wing at the 4:59 mark.
Goldstein and Ammons combined for 10 straight points to key the 12-0 run. After Goldstein’s trey, Ammons hit a layup and Goldstein followed with two free throws and a jumper. Ammons capped the rally with a free throw.
Greg Gantt converted on a layup to end the drought but FAU missed on its next two attempts to end the game.
“We just got stops and we executed,” Arrow said about the late-game run. “We just didn’t come down and throw up crazy shots and turn the ball over and make bad decisions. We made good decisions. That was the key. At the end, when we had to make free throws, we had to take care of the ball, run our offense and take time off the clock, we did that.”
The Owls committed turnovers on four straight possessions during their scoreless period and missed three shots to add to their woes.
“I thought South Alabama fought all the way,” said FAU head coach Mike Jarvis. “They hung in there long enough to win it. I give them a lot of credit; they played tough – tougher than we did – and they deserved to win it."
Gantt and Shavar Richardson shared team-high honors in points with 13. Alex Tucker had six assists.
South Alabama travels to Western Kentucky Saturday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised on Fox College Sports (DirecTV 617).
NOTES: USA junior Javier Carter (Dallas, Texas) missed his second straight game with a foot injury… Goldstein’s 14 points ends a three-game streak in single-digits… South Alabama’s 80 percent (20-25) night at the free throw line is the team’s highest since Dec. 11 vs. Alcorn State… Rubit reached double-digit rebounds for the second straight game but failed to score at least 10 points in a double-figure rebounding game for the first time all season… Ammons just missed on what would have been his first career double-double… USA won the rebounding battle 38-30 and has not been outrebounded since Nov. 20 vs. Florida State… Ammons’ seven offensive rebounds tie the most by a USA player this year… Rubit blocked three shots, giving him eight rejections in his last two games.
