Most fans would agree that the 2009-10 South Alabama men’s basketball season was quite the rollercoaster ride. The “Tale of Two Halves” approach taken by the team provided more highs and lows than many were able to handle.
The comebacks were plentiful and started as early as game three when USA reversed a 14-point deficit in the first half to defeat Sacramento State comfortably by 12. The rest came against league opposition.
All told South Alabama won five times when faced with a double-digit deficit.
But the Jaguars saved their best for last.
South Alabama sent their seniors out on a high note and put on a furious comeback to defeat Denver 54-52 in the regular season home finale.
“It was a good game to win because coming back from 20 points against a team like that is like coming back from 30 against any other team,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow.
Tim Williams once again led the charge with 15 second-half points, including the final 11 of the contest to rally the team back from a 22-point deficit.
“We just couldn’t let our fans down at home,” said Williams.
The comeback, the largest in recent memory, ended a two-game losing skid and sent the Jags to the Sun Belt Tournament on a winning note.
“Against a team like that that likes to sit on the ball, I thought our guys did a really good job of forcing the play,” said Arrow. “We didn’t give them a chance to set up. They played out of character where they started jacking up shots and turning it over and we took advantage of it. We made some good quick shots and got them rattled.”
The rally hinged on the Jaguars’ efforts on both ends of the floor. Denver made 54.5% of its shots in the first half, including nine of 13 3-point attempts (69.2%) but was just 6-for-15 overall after halftime and missed all four 3-point attempts.
By comparison, South Alabama increased its shooting percentage from 44.4% to 64.7% in the final 20 minutes and hit three of its four long-range attempts.
The Jags also made a concerted effort to speed up the game in the second half, which proved to be the key against Denver’s deliberate, disciplined offense.
“We had to turn up the pressure,” said Williams. “They have a solid group of guys that are disciplined and won’t beat themselves. You have to make them speed up the tempo.”
“Going to the press was a necessity,” said Arrow. “We got behind so far that we had to press. Our guys did a good job and Denver got completely out of character. When they did get it down court they started forcing shots and we did what a press needs to do to teams, we got them playing our style and it worked well for us.”
The Pioneers led by 14 at the break, and after a jumper from USA’s Gary Redus II, scored the next nine points to double up the Jaguars, 42-21. Javier Carter ended the drought with a jumper, but three straight free throws by Chase Hallam extended the lead to the largest of the contest, 22, with 15:11 left in the game.
It didn’t take long for USA to turn things around. Carter converted a 3-point play on the team’s next possession and Williams turned a steal into two more points.
Two more turnovers, Denver’s fourth in four possessions, led to free throws from Carter and a fast-break dunk from Martino Brock. Carter tacked on two at the charity stripe and a trey from Brock finished off a 14-0 run and suddenly the Jags were within eight with just under 10 minutes to play.
Hallam broke the string and finally got DU on the board, but it mattered little to USA who scored the next six points, four from seldom-used freshman Jayson Guerrier, who matched his career total coming into the night. The seemingly insurmountable 22-point margin was down to four in just 8:02.
“I wanted to keep hitting them with the press and I told the guys to keep working because they’re getting tired,” said Arrow. “I told them, ‘If you can get a steal, take it to the hole and get fouled. If not, we need good shots,’ and once we started to catch up we could take a little more time to get a better shot.”
The final 2:55 was the Tim Williams Show. He single-handedly brought South Alabama back, scoring the team’s last 11 points, starting with two free throws and then back-to-back 3-pointers at the 1:30 and 32-second marks. The final trey gave USA the lead for the first time since midway through the first half.
Williams added a free throw but a jumper from Brian Stafford tied the score at 52-52 with 13 seconds remaining. Williams capped off his evening with a running bankshot with seven seconds left for the final points of the contest.
He finished with a game-high 22 points.
“Coach Arrow stays on me all the time and always puts the ball in my hand,” said Williams. “He gives me an opportunity every game. Some games I refuse to lose, just like our team.”
“That’s what we expected of Tim every game,” said Arrow. “Every team has a major player and we recruited him to be the major factor. He was able to come through for us.”
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).
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