Savannah Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – Isaiah Johnson scored 20 points, and Akron hit 11 3-pointers to down Georgia Southern 75-67 in the Savannah Invitational Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday night in Rhodes Arena.
The contest was the Eagles' second game of the Savannah Invitational, a new in-season tournament that features opening-round games on campus sites and then eight total games in the Savannah Civic Center Nov. 25-26.
Ike Smith reached the 20-point mark for the third time this season, matching his career high with 23, and
Tookie Brown collected 15 points and three steals for Georgia Southern (1-3).
Antino Jackson tallied 19 points and six assists and made 5 of 8 from long distance for Akron (3-1), while Jimond Ivey finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The story
The Eagles chopped a 14-point second-half deficit down to three points with an 11-2 run, and jumper by Smith made the score 62-59 with 5:04 to go. The Eagles got the ball back but turned it over, and Akron ripped off seven straight points, including a triple by Jackson, to push the margin to 10 with 2:34 left. Georgia Southern missed two shots and had a turnover on their three possessions during the run.
A layup by Brown trimmed the lead to six points with 1:46 to go, but Jackson drew a foul driving to the basket and the Zips went 6 for 6 from the charity stripe in the final 1:24 to seal the win.
Georgia Southern fell behind 10-4 early but went on a 10-2 run, sparked by a layup by
Devonte Boykins, and took a 14-12 lead following a free throw by
Shawn O'Connell. Akron reached the bonus with 13:20 left in the first half, and the Eagles had to be careful on defense. Ivey scored seven points as the Zips capped the half with a 9-4 spurt and took a 39-30 cushion into the break.
The Eagles shot 54 percent from the floor and made 8 of 10 from the free-throw line in the second half but had nine turnovers and only outscored Akron by a point in the period.
Quotables from head coach Mark Byington
"We were able to be much more aggressive the second half, and we had better spacing. I just told the guys I'm more encouraged about the way they played and what we're going to be. We're going to be good. We're a little bit out of rhythm right now, and we're a little bit disjointed. But we were just down three against a really good team, and I'm more encouraged about what we're going to become. I'm not really happy where we are right now, but we have some good players and guys who are going to play the right way. We're going to get in rhythm here soon."
On Isaiah Johnson
"He's got great hands, and he's a good passer. He has good feel for the game, and he doesn't get sped up. In the first half, we attacked him and turned him over a couple times and were more aggressive, and in the second half, he found some guys and made the right pass out of there. We just didn't have a choice. We tried to go zone and do different things, and we'll have more things a couple weeks from now that might be better against a guy like that but in a one-day prep he's tough to stop."
Next up
Georgia Southern concludes play in the Savannah Invitational by playing two games in the Savannah Civic Center Nov. 25 and 26. The Eagles play Florida A&M Friday and Radford Saturday, and both games are slated to tip off at 2:30 p.m.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.
