South Alabama missed its first six shots Friday night in the opening round of the Goldie and Herman Ungar Classic, but some smothering early defense and periodic hot shooting sparked a 73-54 victory over Chattanooga at the Mitchell Center.
Josh Ajayi recorded a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds and Herb McGee added 16 points, 8 boards and 3 assists for the Jaguars, who improve to 2-1 this season. USA held the Mocs (2-2) to 29.8 percent shooting for the game, 6 percent from 3-point range, and won the rebounding battle 46-39.
“This is a very big win for us,” Ajayi said. “With the new coaching staff and how hard we’ve been going since the preseason. We’ve probably practiced the hardest of any team in the country. We pride ourselves on practicing hard and coming out and earning these wins.”
Chattanooga led 13-12 at the 8:41 mark of the first half, but a 9-0 South Alabama run put the Jaguars in front to stay. USA pushed its lead to 15 points at the half behind three straight 3-pointers, two by Jordan Andrews and one by McGee.
A four-point play by Rodrick Sikes and a long 3-pointer by Trhae Mitchell gave South Alabama its biggest lead of the game at 50-28 with 15:54 left. Chattanooga got within 12 at the 8:24 and 7:04 marks of the second half, but never any closer.
“I was really proud of the moments that we had,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “From the 12-minute mark of the first half to halftime, that’s what we want to be about. That toughness level, ability to execute and just playing through some mistakes. … If we can ever put 40 minutes together with this team, we’re going to be pretty good. We’re not there yet, but we are trending upward.”
Mitchell added 10 points for South Alabama, in addition to three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Sikes added eight points in an off-night shooting for the Jaguars’ leading scorer, going just 2-for-10 from the field.
Kevin Easley led Chattanooga with 19 points, while Donovann Toatley added 11. The Mocs made just 17 of 57 field goal attempts, and only 1 of 16 from beyond the arc.
“Defense wins championships, and when you play defense, good things happen,” McGee said. “We may not have the most-skilled team offensively, so we have to play defense and be a scrappy team.”
South Alabama led 37-22 at the half behind 11 points from McGee. The Mocs shot just 25.4 percent from the field and went 0-for-10 on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
In Friday’s early game, Southeast Missouri State beat Jacksonville 77-71. Saturday’s action features SEMO vs. Chattanooga at 4 p.m., following by South Alabama and Jacksonville at 7 p.m.