South Alabama survives late rally, beats UALR 57-55

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Dionte Ferguson had 10 points, 12 boards and a key block with 3.5 seconds left as South Alabama held on for a 57-55 victory over seventh-seeded Alabama-Little Rock in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament on Thursday night.

Ferguson finished with four blocked shots for No. 6 seed South Alabama (12-20), which plays third-seeded Louisiana-Monroe in the quarterfinals Friday.

The Jaguars led 55-41 with 7:30 left before UALR (13-18) answered with a 14-1 run to pull within 56-55 with 28 seconds left. Barrington Stevens split a pair of free throws for South Alabama to make it a two-point lead with 11 seconds remaining. The Trojans' Roger Woods then went coast-to-coast for a driving layup attempt, but Ferguson blocked the shot.

The Jaguars' Abdul Lewis missed the front end of a one-and-one with 3.5 seconds to go, and UALR's Josh Hagins' deep 3-point attempt hit the back of the rim to end it.