MOBILE, Ala-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team built a first-half lead versus NCAA-I University of South Alabama, but fell 74-63 in the end.

Mobile (2-1) will travel to Southern Poly Friday at 7:30 pm.

The Jags cleaned up on the rebounds with a 46-24 advantage in the battle of the boards and held a large advantage from the charity stripe, hitting 29-of-36 compared to just 5-of-11 for Mobile.

Mobile led elsewhere, with a better shooting percentage from the floor and 3-point range, and a better assist:turnover ratio.

Christian Salinas led Mobile with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 5-for-7 effort from 3-point range. Ji Kimbrough added 12 points and 5 assists, while Antonio Hester added 10 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.

Augustine Rubit led the Jags with 18 points and 14 rebounds thanks to a 10-for-12 effort from the free throw line, and Xavier Roberson added 17 points.

It did not take long for Mobile to grab their first lead of the game, as Matthew Turner scored 3:09 in to put the team up 6-4, and then Salinas answered a pair of USA free throws to make it 9-6 Mobile with 15:53 left. From there, Salinas and Hester did all of the scoring and gave the Rams a 21-10 lead with 12:17 remaining. After South Alabama closed with nine at the 8:18 mark, Cody Scott, Brock Dockery and Kimbrough each tallied buckets to make it 34-20 in favor of Mobile with 7:35 to play in the half.

From there, Mobile went cold, failing to score again until nearly three minutes had run of the clock and South Alabama had pulled to within 34-31. The Jags grabbed a late 41-40 lead on a pair of free throws with 35 seconds remaining, but a Salinas 3-ball sent the Rams into the break with a 43-41 edge.

Mobile started hot in the second half, scoring the first eight points to take a 51-41 lead with 17:49 remaining. With 8:16 remaining, Mobile held a 60-57 lead, and then, over the final 6:11, South Alabama went 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, from the 8:16 mark to 54 seconds remaining, Mobile went 0-for-10 from the floor. By that time, the Jags had built a 70-60 lead.