BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — Tyler Shirley scored 25 points and Florida A&M used a dominant second-half surge to upset Southern 82-71 on Thursday night at the Clark Activity Center, defying the odds and sweeping the season series from the Jaguars.

The Rattlers, who entered the game as significant underdogs according to predictive metrics, trailed by a single point at halftime but erupted for 50 points after the break to pull away. The victory improved Florida A&M to 12-15 overall, while Southern fell to 13-15. A crowd of 5,123 watched the Southwestern Athletic Conference contest.

The most important part of the game was Florida A&M’s immediate and overwhelming response to open the second half, a run that effectively decided the contest. After a tightly contested first half that saw Southern take a 33-32 lead into the locker room, the Rattlers came out with decisive force. Shirley, the 6-foot-8 forward from Atlanta, ignited a 15-1 blitz over the first four minutes of the period.

Shirley buried a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the half, assisted by Jaquan Sanders. After blocking a Terrance Dixon layup on the other end, Shirley grabbed the defensive rebound, leading to another Sanders-assisted 3-pointer, this time from Micah Octave. Southern called a full timeout just 92 seconds into the half, trailing 38-33, but the stoppage did nothing to slow the Rattlers’ momentum. Octave added a tip-in, and Florida A&M’s defense forced several empty Jaguar possessions, extending the lead to 47-34 and seizing control for good.

Southern never recovered from that decisive stretch. The Jaguars struggled to find consistent offense against a reinvigorated Rattler defense and could not cut the deficit to single digits again until the final minute, when the outcome was already secured. Florida A&M’s lead ballooned to as many as 18 points in the second half.

Shirley was the catalyst, adding two blocks and shooting efficiently from the field to lead all scorers. He was complemented by a balanced attack. Micah Octave, a 6-foot-5 guard from Boca Raton, Florida, added 13 points and was a force defensively with multiple steals and blocks. Jordan Chatman of Birmingham, Alabama, also scored 13 points and dished out five assists, while Antonio Baker contributed 14 points and three assists.

For Southern, Fazl Oshodi led the way with 14 points. AJ Barnes added 13 points and two blocks, and Terrance Dixon finished with 11 points. The Jaguars’ primary facilitator, Michael Jacobs, handed out six assists but was limited to seven points on inefficient shooting.

The game began as a defensive struggle, with both teams committing early turnovers and struggling from the floor. Southern built a small early lead behind Barnes, but Florida A&M stayed close throughout the opening period, setting the stage for the second-half explosion.

The victory marked Florida A&M’s second win over Southern this season, having previously defeated the Jaguars 67-59 in Tallahassee on Jan. 10. It also represented a significant rebound for the Rattlers, who had lost two of their last three games. Southern saw a two-game winning streak snapped.

Florida A&M will look to build on the road victory when it travels to face Grambling on Saturday. Southern returns to action at home against Bethune-Cookman, also on Saturday.