South Alabama beats West Florida in basketball exhibition

South Alabama's basketball team responded to a shaky first-half performance with a solid effort in the second half to claim a 79-63 exhibition victory over West Florida at the Mitchell Center on Thursday night.

The Jaguars made only 32 percent of their shots in taking a 28-25 advantage in the ragged first period, but were much more effective in the final 20 minutes.

USA, which opens the regular season next week at the Rice Basketball Challenge, outscored UWF 21-7 in the first six minutes of the second half to build a 49-32 cushion. West Florida never came closer than 12 points in the last 13 minutes.

"The second half we came back and ran our offense," South Alabama coach Ronnie Arrow said of USA's 53 percent shooting the final period. "We did nothing but catch and shoot, and that's why we shot such a poor percentage the first half.

"We decided to come back and make them (West Florida) guard us, and we scored 51 points. With that many new guys, hopefully, they learned that what they did at high school or at junior college isn't going to work at this level."

USA junior guard Tim Williams led all scorers with 30 points, connecting on 11-of-17 attempts from the floor and 7-of-8 free throws. He also had a game-high 13 rebounds.

Senior forward LaShun Watson had 11 points and six rebounds, and freshman forward Javier Carter added 10 points and six rebounds.

The Jaguars were 27 of 37 from the foul line and dominated the boards 51-32.

The Argos, who led by five points in the first six minutes, made just 36 percent of their shots (21 of 58). Max Hoggard and Maurice Thomas scored 15 points apiece, Jonathan Jackson 12 points and Christopher Evans 11 points.