OTTAWA, Ontario – Baris Ondul scored five straight points midway through the third overtime Saturday to break open a tie contest and help lead the Queen’s University to a 102-94 men’s basketball victory over the University of South Alabama at the Raven’s Nest.

Ondul, who finished with 16 points, gave the Golden Gaels the lead for good 96-94 with a trey from the left corner at 3:28, and he made it a two-possession game just over a minute later with a layup.  Dan Bannister added a bucket and two players split a pair of free throws as QU closed the game on a 9-0 spurt.

Mitch Leger led all players with 28 points, including scoring eight of the Golden Gaels’ 11 in the first extra period, and he also added seven rebounds and three assists.  Bannister chipped in with 18 points and five boards, while Ryan Hairsine and Tim Boyle came off the bench to post with 16 and 11 points, respectively.

Queen’s shot 50.8 percent from the floor overall after making 9-of-14 — including 5-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc — in the overtime periods.  For the game, the Golden Gaels sank 60 percent from long distance.

The Jaguars’ three returning post players combined to collect 32 points and 29 rebounds led by DeAndre Coleman’s 12-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench.  Damarius Jones connected on 6-of-10 threes to pace USA with 20 points, and LaShun Watson added 15 and five rebounds before fouling out.

“We played everybody on the team, which gave us a chance to see some things we needed to see,” USA head coach Ronnie Arrow said.  “We shot free throws well and outrebounded them, but we just didn’t guard anybody.  It’s disappointing because 70 percent of our practices are about defense, but we left them out there wide open.

“Hopefully this is a learning process.  We have another game tonight which will give us a chance to rectify the situation.”

Neither team led by more than three points over the last 10 minutes of the second half after Queen’s took a one-point advantage to the locker room, although USA didn’t go ahead for the first time since the midway point of the first half until Brandon Davis’ basket with less than seven minutes left made the score 64-63.

The two teams traded the lead three times, but the Golden Gaels built a 71-68 edge with two-and-a-half minutes to go after Bannister made two foul shots.  The Jaguars used a basket from DeAndrae Ross and two Davis free throws to recapture the lead with 40.2 seconds left.  Leger went to the line with 32 seconds remaining, but made only 1-of-2 attempts to end regulation tied, 72-72.

Queen’s did not make a field goal over the final four minutes and 41 seconds of regulation.

In the first overtime, USA led most of the way until a three from Leger put the Golden Gaels up 80-79 with 1:07 to go.  B.J. Ford answered with a three-pointer — his only field goal of the contest — nine seconds later, though, to give the Jags the lead back, and Bryan Sherrer added a free throw.  But, Leger was fouled with 3.5 seconds remaining and converted all three free throws to force another period.

In the second overtime, Ross — who would finish with 13 points and four steals — gave USA a 90-85 advantage midway through the period with consecutive threes 22 seconds apart.  Those would be the Jaguars final points, however, as Bannister connected on a three and Boyle made two free throws in the last minute-and-a-half to once again knot the score.

USA trailed at the half by one, 38-37, after the Golden Gaels shot 57.1 percent overall while making 9-of-13 attempts from beyond the three-point arc.  Leger led QU with 14 in the period, connecting on four treys, while five other Golden Gaels sank one.

After Jones hit two threes in less than a minute to put the Jags up 19-14 with just under 12 minutes remaining, Leger answered at the other end to spark a 15-0 run that gave OU its largest lead with just over eight minutes to go.  Hairsine and Nick DiDonato made back-to-back shots from beyond the arc in a 34-second span to close out the stretch.

Davis responded with a basket and two fouls shots as the Jaguars came back with eight straight points, tying the game 29-29 with five minutes left on a Watson jumper.  QU took the lead at the break with Boyle making 3-of-4 foul shots in the final 81 seconds of the half.

Jones posted 12 points, going 4-of-6 over the opening 20 minutes, and Watson finished with eight points in the half.  USA converted on 54.1 percent from the field before the break.

The Jaguars, though, ended up hitting 43.7 percent overall, making 11-of-28 from beyond the arc.  They also shot 91.3 percent at the foul line.

Davis and Ronald Douglas both collected with 10 points and seven rebounds.  Coleman led the squad with three assists and only one turnover in 30 minutes.

USA was credited with 13 steals, which led to 23 turnovers by the Golden Gaels, with Ross, Ford, Sherrer and Watson picking up multiple thefts.

The Jags return to action later to today when they face the University of Ottawa in the first game of the Can-Am Basketball Shootout.  Opening tip at Scotiabank Place is slated for 4 p.m. (CDT).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—