By: Caleb Seaver, Contributing Writer
Photo by: Caleb Seaver

MOBILE, Ala. – South Alabama’s basketball team was off to their best start in 17 years, as the Jags defended their home court against rivals Troy and Southern Miss in January, extending their Sun Belt lead.

South Alabama entered Saturday’s game atop the Sun Belt standings with rival Troy in a close second. A key conference matchup along with a season-high crowd of 5,148 led to an electric rivalry game atmosphere in the Mitchell Center. It would come down to the last second, but the loud crowd helped boost the Jags past the Trojans 64-63, continuing head coach Richie Riley’s 7-game home winning streak against Troy.

It was a clean, strong first half by South, who would enter the half with a 20-point lead, committing only one turnover. This strong first half was powered by long scoring runs of 13-0 and 12-0 during the half, as well as strong performances by forwards Judah Brown and John Broom, who had 12 and nine first half points, respectively.

The tides would begin to turn in the second half, however, as Troy would turn up the defensive pressure in the second half forcing 14 South Alabama turnovers, trimming the South Alabama lead to just one point with under one minute to go. Troy’s Jackson Fields would be fouled with 11 seconds to go, but he made both free throws to give Troy the lead.

South guard Myles Corey carried the ball all the way up the court, but missed a layup with the ball going out of bounds. This led to a controversial replay review with the refs calling the ball out on Troy, giving South Alabama one last shot. Junior forward Barry Dunning Jr. would shoot, but would be fouled with just 1.9 seconds on the clock. He made both free throws, winning the game for the Jags.

“What a wild game that was,” head coach Riley said in an interview after the game.

This was not the only game for the Jags last week, as earlier in the week South Alabama took on nearby rival Southern Miss. Despite a strong start by Southern Miss, South would take the lead 8 minutes into the game and would not look back, winning the game 75-62.

Overall, it was a great defensive showing by the Jags, forcing 14 turnovers and holding Southern Miss to only a 33 field goal percentage. On the offensive side, the Jags were led by senior Dylan Fasoyiro who had 17 points, also scoring his 1,000th collegiate point during the game. 

“[It] felt good to have my guys back,” said head coach Riley in an interview following the game, “When we are us it allows us to shoot 36 percent from the field and still have a chance to win because our defense was very good. My challenge for these guys is to be who they are, and when they’re who they are, they deserve to win them all.” 

Right now, the Jags are sitting at third in the conference, under Troy and Arkansas State. South Alabama will return to the Mitchell Center later this month when they take on Marshall on Feb. 13.