A respectable crowd piled in to the Mitchell Center Thursday night to see the talk of the town Jags. Coming in at 11-4 and 3-0 in conference play, the Jags sputtered to a start.
A team that tends to take care of the ball, ranking near best in the country in turnover statistics, turned the ball over 5 times in the first 5 minutes of the game. Falling behind 4-0, Richie Riley called the Jaguars ‘use it or lose it’ timeout with 18:51 left in the first half.
Following the timeout, South Alabama willed by local talent Barry Dunning cut away at the Red Wolves lead. Dunning scored the Jags first 7 points of the night, then Cantia Rahming dropped a 3 in the bucket followed by a pair of 3’s from veteran forward Judah Brown.
Entering the under-12 media timeout the Jags and Red Wolves were deadlocked at 18. After some back and forth action the Jags finished the first half of play on a 21-10 run to enter the break with a 41-31 lead. The half was capped off by a 4 point play by Elijah Ormiston. Ormiston finished the night with a career high 22 points.
In the second half, the Jags turned up the pressure defensively and played a slow burn style of offense.
The South Alabama lead continued to balloon throughout the second half thanks to highly efficient basketball.
The Jaguars finished the night with 5 players scoring in double figures. Ormiston (22), Brown (11), Corey (11), Broom (10) and Dunning (10). Dunning’s 10 point outing is his 10th consecutive game in double figures for the Jaguars.
The Jags now standalone in first place atop the Sun Belt Conference. With a lead in the conference, South Alabama turns to Old Dominion. The Monarchs will enter the Mitchell Center for a 2pm tip on Saturday with a 7-9 record overall. Despite the gaudy overall mark, ODU has jumped out to an impressive 3-1 conference mark, tied with the Troy Trojans for 2nd place.
Fans are beginning to claim this to be the best Richie Riley – era team. Standing at 12-4 and an undefeated 4-0 in conference play, it’s starting to look that way.
Tickets available at USAJaguars.com, via phone at 251-461-1USA or at the gate.
