MEN’S BASKETBALL HAS BIG FIRST HALF LEAD, BUT CAN’T HANG ON IN LOSS TO SOUTH ALABAMA

11/15/2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- South Alabama used a 28-9 run over parts of the first and second halves, and Tim Williams scored a game-best 23 points to lead the Jaguars to a 70-58 victory over Sacramento State in the third and final round of the Rice Basketball Challenge Sunday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.

A layup from senior Antonio Flaggs gave the Hornets a game-high 14-point lead (27-13) with 2:30 remaining in the first half, and Sacramento State looked to be in control. However, after taking that lead, the Hornets began to misfire from the field, shooting just 28.6 percent (8-28) from the floor during the final 22:29 of the contest.

That allowed South Alabama, which shot a blistering 66.7 percent (14-21) in the second half, to eventually take its first lead of the game at 36-34 with 13:42 to play and the Jaguars would never trail again. In fact, Sacramento State never trailed during the first 26:18 of the contest, and South Alabama never trailed during the final 13:42 of the game.

With the loss, Sacramento State concludes the season-opening tournament with a 1-2 record, having lost to host Rice on Friday night and defeating Houston Baptist yesterday afternoon. South Alabama, which has won at least 20 games each of the last four years and has two NCAA Tournament appearances over that span, finished the tournament with a 2-1 record. The Jaguars lost to Rice last night by the score of 71-69.

Rice was crowned tournament champions by virtue of its perfect 3-0 record, while South Alabama (2-1), Sacramento State (1-2) and Houston Baptist (0-3) rounded out the field. Hornet true freshman John Dickson was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 11.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocked shots and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 52.0 percent (13-25) from the field during the tournament.

The Hornets opened the game by making five of their first seven shots, and raced out to an 11-2 lead with 16:36 to play. Sacramento State maintained a comfortable lead the remainder of the first half, but Dickson picked up his second foul at the 1:42 mark and had to be substituted out of the game. That seemed to spark South Alabama as the Jaguars scored the final four points of the stanza and went into halftime trailing, 29-21.

That momentum carried into the second half as South Alabama scored the first six point to cut the Hornet lead to 29-27 with 17:22 left to play. A layup from Dickson eventually gave the Hornets a three-point lead (34-31), but that was the largest advantage Sacramento State would enjoy the rest of the afternoon. South Alabama would score the next five points, and a jumper from Gary Redus gave the Jaguars their first lead of the afternoon at 36-34 with 13:42 to play. South Alabama never trailed the rest of the way, as the 12-point victory was also the team’s largest lead of the day.

Fifteen of Williams’ 23 points came during the second half, and the junior guard finished 8-of-15 from the field, including three assists and a game-high eight rebounds. Redus scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, and finished the day 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the three-point arc. Three of those three-pointers came during the second half when South Alabama was making its run.

The Jaguars finished the game shooting 44.7 percent (21-47) from the field, 35.7 percent (5-14) from the three-point arc, and 88.5 percent (23-26) from the free throw line. Allyn Cooks, who scored 12 points, was 8-of-8 from the free throw line and the Jaguars went 11-of-12 from the charity stripe during the final 2:15 to put the game away.

Conversely, Sacramento State shot 39.6 percent (19-48) from the field, including 30.8 percent (8-26) in the second half. The Hornets hit just four of their 15 three-point attempts (.267) and struggled from the free throw line, converting on just 64.0 percent (16-25) of their freebies.

Four Hornets scored in double figures as Dickson, Flaggs, Domineek Daniel and Sultan Toles-Bey each had 10 points. Daniel shot 3-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line while also grabbing a team-best seven rebounds. Dickson, who is the only Hornet to score in double figures in every game this season, scored his 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He also blocked two more shots, and is averaging 2.0 blocked shots per game thus far.

Toles-Bey finished with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals in a team-best 35 minutes of play. The transfer from Fresno City College now has nine steals through three games this season. Flaggs added 10 points, five rebounds and a steal. Senior Mike Marcial tacked on eight points, two rebounds, two assists and no turnovers in 17 minutes.

Sacramento State will play for the fourth time in six days when the team plays its home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 18, against Bethany at 7:05 p.m. The Hornets have won their home opener nine times in the last 10 years.