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MOBILE, Ala. – LaShun Watson scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half and Domonic Tilford contributed 10 of his 15 as University of South Alabama built a 20-point halftime lead and posted a 71-59 victory over the cold-shooting Maine Black Bears in the USA Basketball Tournament Friday night.
USA, now 3-3, will take on the University of California-Davis (2-4) in today’s 8 p.m. championship game. It was USA’s 18th win in its last 19 games at the Mitchell Center.
Maine, 3-3 and loser of three straight, will take on 3-2 Tulane University in the 6 p.m. consolation game.
Brandon Davis led a balanced Jaguars attack with 18 points. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Tilford and Watson had 15 points apiece, and DeAndre Coleman contributed 11 points. Tilford had a game-high seven assists.
Maine’s Mark Socoby led all scorers with 28 points. Gerald McLemore had 10 points, and Sean McNally pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked three shots before fouling out late.
USA went 27-for-52 from the floor (51.9 percent) while limiting Maine to a 17-for-50 showing (34 percent).
The Jaguars, an NCAA Tournament team last season, raced out to a 16-6 lead and, later in the half, rattled off an 11-point run to extend their lead to 30-11.
Socoby’s 3-pointer snapped the streak, but USA finished the half with a 10-6 run.
The Jags connected on 57 percent of their field goals in the first half while limiting the Bears to 25 percent shooting. USA went 6-for-10 from beyond the 3-point arc compared to Maine’s 3-for-11 showing.
Davis and Coleman combined for 11 first-half points. Socoby had 12 of Maine’s first-half points and Owes had five.
The Bears rallied to start the second half as 3-pointers by Socoby and McLemore fueled an 11-4 run that sliced the lead to 44-31.
Maine closed the gap to 12 in the late stages of the game, but the Black Bears couldn’t any closer as the Jaguars would always answer.
McLemore had a chance to reduce the lead to 10 with six minutes remaining but he missed a 3-pointer and Davis hit a pair of short jumpers as the Jaguars gradually rebuilt the lead to 20 before the Bears made a final run.
Davis scored 12 of his points in the second half.
“We bounced back well in the second half. We played very hard and didn’t back down. We had some quality runs and executed better,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward. “But you have to play a 40-minute game against a team of that caliber. We had some droughts in the first half, but their athleticism had something to do with that.”
“They’re a very strong team and they’re very good at home,” added Woodward. “We just didn’t have enough scoring balance. We didn’t get many points in the paint.”
JAGUARS 71, BLACK BEARS 59
Maine men (3-3) South Alabama (3-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Barnies 2 5 0 0 4 Davis 7 9 18
McNally 1 6 2 2 5 Douglas 2 6 4
Bernal 1 3 3 8 5 Tilford 5 12 15
Socoby 7 15 8 10 28 Watson 6 8 15
McLemore 3 11 2 3 10 Ross 3 7 8
Martin 0 0 0 0 0 Coleman 4 6 11
Mitchell 0 0 0 0 0 Hayles 0 1 0
Rogers 0 1 0 0 0 Sherrer 0 1 0
Owes 3 7 0 0 7 Parks 0 0 0 0
Chetinov 0 2 0 0 0 Ford 0 0 0
Garner 0 0 0 0
C.Tabet 0 0 0 0
P.Tabet 0 1 0 0
Harris 0 0 0 0
Totals 17 50 15 23 59 Totals 27 52 10 18 71
Maine 20 59
South Alabama 40 71
3-pt. goals – Maine (10-25): Socoby 6-13, McLemore 2-7, McNally 1-2, Owes 1-2, Barnies 0-1; South Alabama (7-15): Tilford 4-9, Watson 2-3, Coleman 1-1, Ross 0-1, Sherrer 0-1
Attendance: 2,818
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