South Alabama basketball survives vs. Texas A&M-Commerce, 69-66

South Alabama forward Javon Franklin shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. drives the lane against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Alex Anderson shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Jay Jay Chandler looks to pass the ball against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Jay Jay Chandler sets up a play against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Marshall Kearing is called for goaltending against Texas A&M-Commerce's Clashon Gaffney in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce's Leo Lara and Alex Peavy in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Javon Franklin and South Alabama guard Jay Jay Chandler pressure Texas A&M-Commerce's Carson Tuttle in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama guard Charles Manning Jr. works against Texas A&M-Commerce's Alphonso Willis in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Alex Anderson fouls Texas A&M-Commerce's Clashon Gaffney in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Kayo Goncalves and South Alabama forward Marshall Kearing pressure Texas A&M-Commerce's Demarcus Demonia in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Kayo Goncalves replaces South Alabama guard Jay Jay Chandler against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Diante Smith takes a break against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Javon Franklin wins the opening tip against Texas A&M-Commerce's Clashon Gaffney in a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Javon Franklin shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce's Clashon Gaffney in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Alex Anderson shoots against against Texas A&M-Commerce's Augustine Ene in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama prepares to play Texas A&M-Commerce in a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama prepares to play Texas A&M-Commerce in a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Javon Franklin shoots against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama head coach Richie Riley directs players against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. At right is South Alabama forward Kayo Goncalves. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama forward Javon Franklin goes up for a rebound against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first half of a men's basketball game Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

South Alabama got something of a wake-up call Monday night against Texas A&M-Commerce, but managed to get out of bed in time for a 69-66 victory at the Mitchell Center.

The game was the Jaguars’ first since returning from the West Coast, where they swept two games last Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Classic. USA (6-2) trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and 10 in the second, but battled back for their fifth straight win.

“We looked like we’d just got back from Vegas, flew five hours, and we played like that,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “That’s no excuse — that’s our schedule. … You’ve got 40 minutes to play. We’ve got 32 games that are guaranteed. This isn’t the NBA, where you’ve got 82 games and you can just come out and float through a night. And that’s what we did tonight. We floated through the whole night.

“We turned it on late, just a little bit, enough to win the game. And I’m thankful we won the game. But what our program stands on is a culture of work, competing fiercely every time out, and competing and honoring the game the right way. And we didn’t do any of those things tonight. Usually, when you don’t do those things, you don’t get to win.”

Charles Manning was one of the few South Alabama players who enjoyed an outstanding all-around evening, scoring a game-high 20 points and adding five blocks, five assists and three steals. Kayo Gonçalves and Jay Jay Chandler totaled 13 points each, with all of Chandler’s points coming in the second half.

Jairus Roberson scored 19 points and Alphonso Willis added 13 to lead the way for Texas A&M-Commerce, a Division II program making the transition to Division I. The Lions made 11 3-pointers and were even-up with the Jaguars in the rebounding battle, 34-34.

“In games like this, we get carried away as coaches talking about how poorly we played and our lack of energy and our lack of focus and all that, without giving credit to the opponent,” Riley said. “So first of all, let me give credit to them. They are incredibly well-coached, they’re disciplined, they know how to play. They had a winning attitude, man. They came in here and they played harder than us. They played smarter than us. They executed their plan better than us. And that’s a statement to how well they’re coached and the type of kids they have. They were really impressive.”

Texas A&M-Commerce led the entire first half, taking advantage of ice-cold South Alabama shooting to build a double-digit advantage at 20-10 at the 6:41 mark. That lead eventually grew to 15 at 32-17 with 1:41 left before the Jaguars scored the final eight points of the half to trail by seven at the break.

South Alabama made just one of its first 10 shots, and just six of 23 in the first half. The Jaguars also turned the ball over nine times in the opening 20 minutes, and 16 points in the game.

“Jetlag, fatigue, just playing a lot of games right now,” Manning said. “We’ve just got to get back focused and do what we do. That was a good team that we just played. All credit to them. They came out hard and gave us a battle.”

The Lions (3-1) still led by 10 heading into the final 12 minutes before the Jaguars finally hit the gas. The Jaguars used runs of 20-5 and 12-0 to go up 58-53 with 6:52 remaining, and went on top for good at 65-63 on a pair of Diante Smith free throws with 3:04 remaining.

Texas A&M-Commerce had a chance to tie or take the lead after Gonçalves was called for an offensive foul at the 2:06 mark, but Manning blocked back-to-back shots and Alex Anderson followed his teammate’s miss with a putback to give the Jaguars a 67-63 lead with 1:07 left.

Chandler’s up-and-under bucket made it 69-63 with 30 seconds to play, but the Lions’ Roberson answered with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one score with 14 seconds left. Smith — who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench for the Jaguars — was fouled immediately and clanked a pair of free throws, but Willis missed a wide-open 3 on the other end, with Smith grabbing the rebound for South Alabama with 0.2 seconds remaining.

“The first half, we just didn’t have any energy,” Manning said. “The coaches got on us about that (at halftime). We came out flat and they came out with high-level energy. That’s why it was kind of a dogfight in the first half. Second half, we came out a little better, more aggressive, more in-tune with details. But it could have been better in the second half as well.”

South Alabama returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday at home vs. Southern Miss.

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