FINAL SCORE: Western Kentucky 92, South Alabama 88 (2ot)

RECORDS:
Western Kentucky “Hilltoppers” — 4-11 overall, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference
South Alabama "Jaguars" — 9-7 overall, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference

PLAY-BY-PLAY HIGHLIGHTS:
First Half — David Boyden gives Hilltoppers early 2-0 lead with baseline turnaround at 19:34 ... Ravonte Dantzler answers at the other end for USA with 19:20 left ... Chris Marcus makes three-point play and Boyden hits another shot around two free throws from Demetrice Williams to give Western 7-4 lead with 18:10 remaining ... Reggie York makes layup and Williams completes three-point play to give Jaguars first lead (9-7) with 17:06 to go ... Lee Lampley hits pull-up jumper on the baseline to knot score at 9-9 (16:39) ... Dusty Dubbs makes three-pointer from the left corner at 16:00 to start 8-0 USA run ... Nate Williams ends Topper scoring drought with layup at 13:42 (17-11 USA) ... Lampley three (12:38) and Marcus putback (11:47) draws WKU to within 19-16 ... Hilltoppers pull to within two points twice on another Marcus putback (20-18, 11:13) and Tremain Rowles’ layup (22-20, 10:23) ... Irv Jenkins and Virgil Stanescu make back-to-back layups to give USA a 26-20 advantage with 8:50 remaining ... Lampley makes two free throws and completes a three-point play to start WKU 13-3 spurt over 4:05 ... Dubbs makes another three-pointer for the Jaguars’ only points during the stretch at 7:08 (29-25 USA) ... Marcus scores seven consecutive points, putting Western back on top with a tip in at 6:12 ... Marcus adds another putback and Lampley makes 1 of 2 free throws to give Western 33-29 edge with 4:27 left ... Dantzler scores to pull USA back within two (33-31) with 3:44 to go ... Jenkins ties the game on a putback at 2:10 ... Brian Allenspach lay up at 1:30 gives WKU 35-33 lead ... Jenkins driving layup with 29 seconds left ties score (35-35) at the half.

Second Half — Derek Robinson opens scoring for WKU in the half with a driving layup at 18:21 ... Stanescu makes two free throws to tie the score at 17:49 ... Jaguars take the lead with 17:18 left on 15-foot baseline jumper from Michael Ballman ... Push lead to 42-37 with 15:22 remaining on a free throw and runner in the lane ... Robinson ends Topper drought with basket at 14:52 ... Teams trade baskets until Lampley pulls WKU within one at 46-45 with 11:38 left on a layup and give the Hilltoppers the lead with a three-pointer at 9:47 ... Stanescu ties the score at 48-48 with a layup at 9:10 ... Rowles three from the top of the key at 8:47 gives the Toppers the lead, which they’ll hold until the final seconds of regulation ... Filip Videnov hits a basket and Boyden tips in a WKU miss to cap 7-0 run and give the Hilltoppers a 55-48 advantage with 7:41 remaining ... Western extends lead to as much as 10 points (60-50 at 5:36) on another three-pointer from Rowles ... WKU still leads by eight (62-54) when Boyden hits a jumper at 3:18 ... WKU up 65-58 with two minutes to go and 68-62 with a minute left when USA comes back ... Dantzler hits 1 of 2 free throws to make score 70-65 with 45 seconds left ... D. Williams makes 2 of 3 free throws four seconds later ... Dantzler makes 15-foot jumper to pull USA within one (70-69) at 0:25 ... Marcus extends lead to three with a pair of free throws at 0:24 ... D. Williams hits three-pointer to send game into overtime with 12 seconds left.

Overtime — Stanescu gives Jaguars early lead with two free throws at 4:39 ... Lampley ties score with layup at 4:36 ... Stanescu hits two more layups around two Lampley free throws to give USA two-point lead (78-76) with 2:52 to go ... Jenkins hits two free throws to push USA advantage to four with 2:26 left ... Lampley makes 1 of 2 free throws on consecutive trips, Nashon McPherson sends game to double overtime with two free throws at 0:59 (80-80).
Second Overtime — Lampley gives Toppers the lead for good with two free throws at 3:42 ... Videnov extends lead to four with layup at 3:07 ... Stanescu makes score 84-82 with a layup — the last field goal by either team — at 2:19 ... McPherson makes both free throws to make score 86-82 with 2:03 to go ... After going over a minute with scoring, D. Williams draws the Jaguars back within two with a pair of free throws at 0:53 ... McPherson hits two free throws one second later ... D. Williams and Videnov both make two free throws, leaving Western with 90-86 lead with 36 seconds remaining ... Brett Gravitt scores USA’s final points, making 2 of 3 free throws at 0:29 ... Lampley closes out scoring with two free throws at 0:25.

QUOTES:
WKU Head Coach Dennis Felton — “First of all, I’d like to really commend South Alabama. They’ve proven they’re a really resilient and poised team. I’m happy to say we’re the first team in the Sun Belt to withstand them. ... I’m very proud of our players. ... I told them we needed to start reacting better to things that go against us. Tonight, we stayed poised and patient. ... Lee Lampley was huge tonight. You can forget his 31 points and 10 rebounds, his leadership carried us.”
USA Head Coach Bob Weltlich — “Our play off the bench wasn’t very good. ... We couldn’t find another guy, a third guy to get us over the hump. ... The bench play forced our starters to play more.”

NOTES — Second 30-point game of Lampley’s career, falls one point shy of tying career high set against Murray State on Dec. 7 earlier this season ... Lampley posts first career double-double with career-best 10 rebounds ... Marcus has a career high in blocks ... D. Williams posts career-high point total for Jaguars ... Second straight win for Toppers in a game that goes double overtime — Western defeated Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo 93-88 on Dec. 30 last season ... First overtime game at Diddle Arena since 77-76 loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Jan. 18, 1998 — that contest also went into double overtime ... Western extends series wining streak to three games dating back to last season.

NEXT GAME — Western continues a four-game Sun Belt homestand against Denver Monday at 7 p.m. CST ... USA travels to face Arkansas-Little Rock in an SBC contest Thursday at 7:05 p.m.