SAVANNAH, Ga. – Tookie Brown gave Georgia Southern a one-point lead with a driving layup, and the Eagles made it hold up with 51.4 seconds of defense to take a 65-64 win over Radford in the Savannah Invitational Men's Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon in the Savannah Civic Center.

With the Eagles trailing 64-63, Brown got a screen out front, drove right and kissed it high off the glass for the go-ahead bucket. Radford's Justin Cousin missed a jumper at the other end, but Ed Polite Jr. dug out the rebound. After a Highlander timeout, the Eagles played excellent defense for a final 29.4 seconds. Ike Smith contested a long 3-point try by Polite, and Mike Hughes pulled down the rebound to preserve the victory.

Shawn O'Connell collected career highs of 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Georgia Southern (3-3), while Jake Allsmiller, Montae Glenn and Brown all scored nine points. Devonte Boykins and Smith each chipped in eight points.

Christian Bradford tallied 15 points, four rebounds and three assists to lead Radford (2-4), and Randy Philips scored 12.

The story
Radford led the contest for over 28 minutes in the contest ,and Bradford scored eight points in a 10-2 run that put the Highlanders ahead 62-58 with 4:36 to play. Allsmiller answered with a triple for the Eagles and after Justin Cousin made a free throw, Ike Smith hit a step-back jumper to tie the score 63-63 with 3:27 left.

Neither squad could score on their next two trips, and Bradford put Radford up a point with a free throw with 2:03 remaining. Hughes had his jumper blocked by Polite on the Eagles' next trip down the floor, but Georgia Southern came up with a defensive stop when O'Connell blocked a Donald Hicks jumper and forced a shot clock violation.

The Eagles shot 61 percent in the second half and hit 8 of 13 from the 3-point line in the game. Bradford led the Highlanders' assault from downtown with four of Radford's 11 triples.

Smith was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 19 points in the four contests.

Quotables
Head coach Mark Byington
"What makes the TV highlights is the game winner when somebody on offense makes a play, but I enjoy just as much when we get that defensive stop to win a game. Our guys were really locked in, they communicated well and they did a great job of finding a way to get a stop and win the game. We were in the right positions. We had a couple deflections there and almost turned the ball over. We figured out how to make sure it was a contested shot."

"Radford is very well coached, and they play hard. That game is going to be a lot like Sun Belt games, playing a team that's going to grind it out and that's going to know you. We had a lot of guys step up and make plays tonight. I thought Shawn O'Connell was terrific and bounced back from yesterday, and we're not winning the game without Devonte Boykins. Jake Allsmiller's 3s in the second half gave us confidence and the belief that we could win."

Sophomore guard Tookie Brown
On go-ahead layup
"Coach told me to attack the big when they hedge out and just try to get to the rim."

On Radford's last possession
"We go over situations like this at practice all the time so that helps us prepare for when it happens in a game."

Next up
Georgia Southern plays its third straight game in Savannah when the Eagles travel to Savannah State Dec. 1. It's a doubleheader with the women's teams, and tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.

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