MOBILE, Ala. - Coming off their first win of the 2021-22 season, the University of Mobile Men's Basketball team was back in action in Pharr Gymnasium Monday night, Nov. 1 for a non-conference game against Southeastern Baptist College. The Chargers of Southeastern Baptist and Mobile have met four times in their brief history, all meetings coming within the last two season. Entering Monday, the Rams are 4-0 against SBC and were heavily favored in Monday's game. After a slow first half, Mobile bounced back in the second half and won Monday's game, 80-51.
Prior to the start of the game, Pharr Gymnasium was packed and loud as the University of Mobile RamCorps, a high-impact brass and percussion ensemble at the university, was in attendance in the stands. RamCorps, led by Mr. Kenn Hughes, performed throughout the game and at halftime on Monday. Mobile Head Coach Darnell Archey enjoyed having RamCorps in attendance, saying it added excitement and energy to Pharr Gymnasium.
As the game began, Mobile and Southeastern Baptist struggled with turnovers in the first half. The Rams were solid defensively in the early going, forcing several Southeastern Baptist turnovers, including back-to-back shot clock violations on two-straight Chargers drives.
Mobile missed several shots in the first half, which seemed to hurt the confidence of the Rams. That lack of confidence led to turnovers as Mobile ended up committing 12 turnovers in the first half, allowing Southeastern Baptist to score 12 points off turnovers in the half and take a four-point lead to halftime, 29-25. Both teams combined for 21 turnovers in the half.
After a surprising first half that saw the Chargers with the lead, Coach Darnell Archey's message to his team in the locker room at halftime was to relax and just play basketball. That is exactly what Mobile did in the second half.
Right out of the gate, Mobile managed a 21-5 run on Southeastern Baptist in the first six minutes of the second half. Tadeas Manas, who did not score a single point in the first half, finished with 17 points in the game as Manas was on fire coming out of halftime. Manas' 17 points is a new career-high for the second-year freshman.
Gary Jefferson, who made his home debut as a Ram on Monday night, also caught fire from the three-point line later in the second half, which got the fans loud and on their feet. Jefferson managed to connect from deep three times in the span of four minutes. He finished with 21 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. He also led Mobile with four steals.
Mobile wrapped up the second half by scoring 55 points in the half alone to grab the win. Despite great performances offensively by Manas and Jefferson, who both shot 8-15 from the floor, it was Logan Foutz who took charge on the offensive side.
Foutz finished with a game-high 26 points in the victory for Mobile. Foutz shot 9-14 from the floor and was a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line. He grabbed four rebounds and managed one assist in the win. He currently leads the team offensively by averaging 20 points per game in Mobile's first four games of the season.
With the win on Monday night, Mobile has now won back-to-back games to improve their record to 2-2 on the season. The Rams are scheduled to travel to Montgomery, Ala. for an exhibition game against NCAA Division 1Â opponent Alabama State University on Thursday, Nov. 4. Tip-off for that game is set for 7:00 p.m. CT. Exhibition games do not count on the regular season schedule for Mobile, but is great experience for players to battle D-I opponents.
The Rams' next regular season game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT on Nov. 10 against Southeastern Baptist College. This is the first time that Mobile will host the same opponent in Pharr Gymnasium for two-straight regular season games.Â
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About the University of Mobile
The University of Mobile is a Christ-centered liberal arts and sciences institution with a vision of higher education for a higher purpose, founded to honor God by equipping students for their future professions through rigorous academic preparation and spiritual transformation. Core values are: Christ-Centered, Academically-Focused, Student-Devoted and Distinctively-Driven. The university offers on-campus and online bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in over 75 academic programs. Founded in 1961, the University of Mobile is affiliated with the Alabama Baptist State Convention and is located 10 miles north of Mobile, Alabama on a campus of over 880 acres.
