South Alabama never led in the final five minutes of a 76-72 loss at Southern Miss on Thursday night.

Austin Crowley scored 25 points to lead the Golden Eagles, who improve to 16-4 overall, 5-2 in Sun Belt Conference play. Isaiah Moore had 22 for the Jaguars, who fall to 8-11, 2-5.

South Alabama led 37-33 at halftime and by one at 64-63 when Moore hit a pair of free throws with 5:33 remaining. But Southern Miss’ Felipe Haase knocked down a 3-pointer at the other end and the Golden Eagles never trailed again.

The Jaguars twice tied the game after that, the last time on Greg Parham’s short jumper with 2:40 to play. South Alabama had two chances to take the lead again, but Haase’s 3-point play put Southern Miss on top to stay with 59 seconds remaining.

Haase and Deandre Pinckney each had 18 points for Southern Miss, which beat South Alabama for the first time since 2018. The Golden Eagles made 19 of 21 free throws in the game.

Kevin Samuel, back in the lineup for South Alabama after missing last Saturday’s loss to Louisiana, had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Parham added 11 points for the Jaguars, who made just 5 of 26 3-point attempts and missed six free throws.

South Alabama is at Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday.