Men's Basketball Grinds out Victory over Furman
1/26/2008 5:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern men's basketball team used a 16-3 run to open the second half to rally from a one-point deficit and defeat Furman 62-53 Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles get one back in the win column after two straight defeats and now stand at 13-7 overall and 6-4 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins drop to 3-17 and 2-9.
A crowd of 4,082 saw GSU reel off 13 straight points to take control of a tight ballgame. It was the sixth-largest crowd in Hanner Fieldhouse history and the largest since March 11, 1992.
GSU senior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led all players with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Freshman Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) added 12 off the bench and senior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) had 10 and six assists.
Three Furman players recorded 10 points each: Justin Dehm, Darryl Evans and George Brozos.
Neither team was able to find a rhythm in the first half as the two squads combined for just 34.3 percent from the field and 41 points. Furman hit just 20.7 percent (6-29) but led 21-20 at the break.
“We couldn't make any shots to their credit,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We saw zone for forty minutes. They wouldn't let us score inside, they made us shoot the ball from outside and we just couldn't make shots. I thought our defense was great. Our defense held us together. Furman basically did what they had to do to have a chance to win, and it worked for awhile and I knew we would shoot the ball better in the second half and we did.”
A Dehm 3-pointer at the 17:50 mark of the second half put Furman ahead (24-23) for the final time. Georgia Southern responded with 13 consecutive points over a four-minute stretch. Five different players contributed during the run, including an alley-oop by sophomore Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.), and the rally was capped off with a lay-up by Graham.
“We had a big run and we had couple of momentum plays,” said Price. “Great play to A.J. - that was big - and we had a great crowd that really got behind our players and I thought that was important. We just needed to play with more confidence. I kept stressing we needed to get that swagger back. We were still stinging from Thursday night. I think we all were kind of stunned and I thought it showed in the game, we didn't have the confidence or the swagger we normally have in this building and it took us awhile to get it back.”
GSU shot 47.8 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes and more than doubled their first-half output with 42 points. Furman finished the contest with 32.7 percent shooting and hit just 52.2 percent from the foul line.
The Eagles have a day off before they travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on Western Carolina Monday night.
The Eagles get one back in the win column after two straight defeats and now stand at 13-7 overall and 6-4 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins drop to 3-17 and 2-9.
A crowd of 4,082 saw GSU reel off 13 straight points to take control of a tight ballgame. It was the sixth-largest crowd in Hanner Fieldhouse history and the largest since March 11, 1992.
GSU senior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) led all players with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Freshman Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) added 12 off the bench and senior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) had 10 and six assists.
Three Furman players recorded 10 points each: Justin Dehm, Darryl Evans and George Brozos.
Neither team was able to find a rhythm in the first half as the two squads combined for just 34.3 percent from the field and 41 points. Furman hit just 20.7 percent (6-29) but led 21-20 at the break.
“We couldn't make any shots to their credit,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We saw zone for forty minutes. They wouldn't let us score inside, they made us shoot the ball from outside and we just couldn't make shots. I thought our defense was great. Our defense held us together. Furman basically did what they had to do to have a chance to win, and it worked for awhile and I knew we would shoot the ball better in the second half and we did.”
A Dehm 3-pointer at the 17:50 mark of the second half put Furman ahead (24-23) for the final time. Georgia Southern responded with 13 consecutive points over a four-minute stretch. Five different players contributed during the run, including an alley-oop by sophomore Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.), and the rally was capped off with a lay-up by Graham.
“We had a big run and we had couple of momentum plays,” said Price. “Great play to A.J. - that was big - and we had a great crowd that really got behind our players and I thought that was important. We just needed to play with more confidence. I kept stressing we needed to get that swagger back. We were still stinging from Thursday night. I think we all were kind of stunned and I thought it showed in the game, we didn't have the confidence or the swagger we normally have in this building and it took us awhile to get it back.”
GSU shot 47.8 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes and more than doubled their first-half output with 42 points. Furman finished the contest with 32.7 percent shooting and hit just 52.2 percent from the foul line.
The Eagles have a day off before they travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to take on Western Carolina Monday night.
The GATA Zone - Air Rifle
Thursday, February 19
Walk and Talk: J.I. Clements Stadium
Friday, February 13
2026 Baseball Pre Season Check in
Thursday, February 12
Georgia Southern Football: 2026 State of the Program
Thursday, February 12
