Arkansas State men’s basketball weathered a second-half push by South Alabama to earn a gritty 76-73 win over the Jaguars on Saturday inside the Mitchell Center.

The Red Wolves (13-14, 8-6 SBC) ran its winning streak to three games and completed their sweep in the Yellowhammer State with the win, out-rebounding the Jaguars (13-14, 5-9) 42-31 – 17-4 on the offensive glass. A-State has now won five of its last six contests.

Taryn Todd was one of three Red Wolves in double figures with 21 points on 8-of-16 while Freddy Hicks and Dyondre Dominguez tallied 12 points apiece. Izaiyah Nelson just missed his second straight double-double with 9 points and a career-high 15 boards. Derrian Ford finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds, in addition to a clutch 3-point make within the final 30 seconds.

A-State shot 40.9 percent (27-66) for the contest and hit seven 3-pointers, while scoring 40 points in the paint and 21 second-chance points. The Red Wolves’ bench outscored USA’s 17-0.

Jaguar guard Samuel Tabe led all players with 35 points on 15-of-24 shooting while Elijah Ormiston and Marcus Millender added 18 and 12, respectively. Meanwhile, A-State held USA’s leading scorer Isiah Gaiter without a shot attempt on the day. As a team, the Jaguars hit 50 percent (27-54) of their field-goal tries and went 15-of-18 from the foul line.

After the hosts took an early four-point edge at the start, A-State hit its next six shots as part of a 17-2 run to take a 21-10 lead at the under-12. South Alabama rallied to within three with an 8-0 run before a layup by Ford put the score at 36-31 going into halftime. Todd accounted for 16 of the Red Wolves’ 36 points – half of which came in the paint.

A-State expanded its lead to nine with a pair of quick buckets out of intermission, prompting a South Alabama timeout with the score at 40-31. The Jaguars whittled the deficit down to one midway through the half, taking a 57-53 lead at the 9:06 mark after Tabe scored 10 straight.

The margin remained within two until Dominguez scored with 4:24 remaining to make it 66-62. Tabe once again pulled the Jaguars within one, but Dominguez rattled home a wide-open trey to put the count at 70-66 with 2:54 to play. Ford later connected from downtown with 30 seconds to play, but USA answered with a Millender score – ultimately their last of the day, as Nelson converted a foul shot with three seconds to go.

NEXT UP

Arkansas State returns home for its final two home games, beginning Thursday with a nationally-televised contest against Troy – the first home game on national TV since 1997. Tip-off against the Trojans inside First National Bank Arena is slated for 8 p.m.