JACKSONVILLE—A season-best 24 points from AC Bryant wasn't enough for Jax State, dropping a 71-65 contest to South Alabama for their first loss of the season.
 
The Jaguars shot 60.7% in the second half and outscored the Gamecocks 46-34 in the second 20 minutes to overcome a six-point halftime deficit.
 
"We have to do a better job of trying to help them get to the finish line," said coach Ray Harper. "But if we don't take care of some details and understand the importance of every possession there's going to be more nights like this; this won't be the last one, or we can fix it, and the result will probably be different."
 
Bryant was 8-of-17 from 3-point land and added a team-high eight rebounds in 35 minutes of play and was good on two of his first four 3-point attempts to give Jax State a 10-6 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
 
Mostapha El Moutaouakkil's first basket of the game came at the 15:10 mark of the first and was followed by Bryant's third triple of the night to push the lead to nine with 14:13 left at 15-6. Bryant connected again from bonus range at the top of the key with 12:24 left to cap an 8-0 run that spanned nearly three minutes.
 
Marcus Fitzgerald sunk the Gamecocks' fifth 3-ball in the first nine minutes was followed by Bencao Vungo's 3-point bucket in the right corner with 11:21 to go gave Jax State it's biggest lead of the half at 24-8.
 
After getting back within eight with 3:52 left, an alley-oop down the right baseline from Jaye Nash to Vungo put the advantage back into double-digits at 31-21 with 3:17 left in the first. However, the Gamecocks missed their next four shots and committed four turnovers going into halftime with a 31-25 lead.
 
Nash finished with a career-high 12 assists.
 
South Alabama was just 36% from the field from the first half and was just 1-of-6 from 3-point land.
 
South Alabama made eight of their first nine shots of the second half to spark a 9-0 run spanning 3:42 to give the Jaguars the lead 44-43 at the 11:47 mark, but Iaroslav Niagu's first bucket of the night put the hosts back on top 28 seconds later. On the next possession, Fitzgerald connected on a 3-ball to give Jax State a 48-44 lead.
 
With the game tied at 48, El Moutaouakkil converted an old fashion 3-point play, making a hook shot in the lane while being fouled. El Moutaouakkil finished a baseline layup on the next possession to get his team up five with 7:57 left.
 
El Moutaouakkil closed out the game with nine points and six rebounds.
 
Out of the under-8 media timeout, Jamar Franklin connected on a 3-ball to push the lead to six. He connected on another at the 5:42 mark to again take a six-point lead at 59-53.
 
Seven straight points gave South Alabama the lead back at 60-59 with 4:21 to go. All told, the 11-0 run gave the Jaguars a 64-59 lead with 2:31 left, but Franklin's third triple of the game at the 2:14 mark made it a one possession game. 
 
Adam Olson knocked down a 3-pointer from right in front of his bench with 45 seconds to play to push the lead back to five, but Bryant's eighth 3-pointer of the night again made it a two-point game with 39.3 seconds to go.
 
After Chaze Harris missed the second of a 1-and-1 free throw attempt with 33 seconds left, the Gamecocks turned the ball over with 19.5 seconds left on the following possession.
 
Harris led a trio of double-digit scorers for USA with 19 points.
 
Jax State will hit the road for the first time on Monday when it travels to Arkansas State for a 7 p.m. start.