Sophomore Augustine Rubit (Houston, Texas) hit a layup with 1.8 seconds left in the game and the University of South Alabama survived a 20-point Troy comeback to give the Jaguars a 68-66 victory Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell Center. The win snaps a three-game losing streak and hands head coach Ronnie Arrow his 200th win at the school. It was also the Jaguars’ first home win in Sun Belt Conference play (1-4).
USA improves to 11-9 overall and 3-6 in the SBC. Troy drops to 7-13 and 2-7. “We made it interesting, but I was proud of our guys after we got the big lead,” said Arrow. “Troy came out with a lot of energy. We didn’t guard as well as we did the first half, and they were making the shots the second half. Our zone, the first half especially, did a really good job.” Arrow is now 200-153 in 13 seasons at South Alabama and 334-244 in 21 years as a Division I head coach. “Wins just go along with the job, if you’re in this long enough,” Arrow noted. “You’re in this to win for the program, for the kids, for the school and whatever else happens individually, the bottom line is that we want to get this team to the NCAA tournament.”
Rubit put up monster numbers in the win, scoring 18 points with new career highs in rebounds (19) and blocks (5). He had a double-double in the first half alone with 11 points and 10 boards. He leads the conference with eight on the season. “They were triple teaming him tonight, double teaming him,” Arrow commented. “He did a great job of taking the first step rather than holding it and holding it and giving them a chance to double team him. It was good that he made the quick move to the hole and he finished it, and he got done what we needed to get done.” Rubit’s final points came following a key offensive rebound by junior Wendell Wright (Long Beach, Calif.) with 31.7 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Jags held the ball until the final moments and fed Rubit underneath who laid it in. “In the final play, we set it up for a jumper for Freddie (Goldstein),” Arrow said. “If he wasn’t open, we’d pick for Aug to get open in there. They did a good job and got the ball and finished. We were really happy that he got the ball.” South Alabama built an 18-point lead at halftime and a 20-point advantage less than a minute in to the second half thanks to a suffocating defense that held Troy scoreless for almost 10 minutes. The Jags finished the opening half on a 20-0 run as the Trojans missed their last 14 shots before halftime. The drought continued after intermission when Troy failed to convert on its first two attempts. Steven Cunningham finally broke the string with a three-point play at the 17:57 mark. South Alabama hosts Florida Atlantic Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.
