South Alabama falls to Louisiana 59-56 at Mitchell Center

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - South Alabama fought to the final buzzer Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center, but the Jaguars came up short in a 59-56 loss to Louisiana.

Chaze Harris led all Jaguars with 18 points, scoring 12 in the second half, while Jayden Cooper added 11 and Adam Olsen chipped in nine points and a game-high nine rebounds. South Alabama dominated the paint and the glass, but Louisiana’s 15 three-pointers proved to be the difference.

Second half rally falls short

The Jags trailed by just one at the break, 26-25. Harris threw down a fastbreak dunk, and moments later, Olsen buried a corner three as South Alabama briefly grabbed the lead.

Louisiana responded with back-to-back threes to fuel an 11-4 run and push their advantage to seven.

With just over two minutes remaining, Cooper knocked down a clutch three to pull the Jags within one. With an assist from Harris, Randy Brady finished at the rim, giving South Alabama a 54-53 lead with 56 seconds left.

Louisiana answered with a three-pointer with 24 seconds to play. Harris responded, finishing at the rim with 11 seconds left to tie it at 56.

After a timeout, Louisiana delivered the final blow with four seconds remaining for the 59-56 final score.

“It’s an unexplainable loss, there’s nothing I can’t sit up here and say that would make the loss acceptable,” said head coach Richie Riley. “When you’re trying to do something special and have a seat at the table in mid February you just cant drop games like this at home. They played harder, and we have to play as hard as we can play and we have to be as locked in as we can be in order for us to win games.”

The Jaguars fall to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in Sun Belt play. Their next matchup is at James Madison on Thursday, January 22. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.