Turnovers and Cold Shooting Cost Eagles at Samford
1/29/2009 5:11:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? Turnovers and cold shooting from 3-point range hurt Georgia Southern as the Eagles dropped a 69-46 Southern Conference decision Thursday night (Jan. 29) at Samford. With the loss, the Eagles dropped to 7-11 overall and 5-5 in the league ? also snapping a five-game win streak over Samford (11-9, 6-5).
Georgia Southern turned the ball over 21 times and missed all 15 attempts from 3-point range. In fact the only 3-point play on the night was when Ben Drayton III (St. Marys/Camden County) got fouled shooting a ?3' with 4:42 remaining and made all three free throw attempts. The 46 points were the lowest since a 42 point outing at Washington State in November 2004 (61-42).
“It's just extremely difficult to play a team that plays a match-up zone the whole game if you can't make shots. When you go 0-for-15 from 3-point line it becomes almost impossible. We gave up too many possessions turning the ball over. We will regroup and come back ready on Saturday,” said head coach Jeff Price.
Georgia Southern jumped out to a 5-2 lead when Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, TN/Iowa Central CC) hit a free throw and added a jumper. The Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run over the next minute to start a 16-4 run, eventually taking a 24-11 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
The Eagles made a run of their own, cutting the deficit to 28-21 with four minutes left. Troupe hit consecutive baskets then Drayton hit a jumper and 2-of-3 free throws when he was fouled from beyond the arc. Antonio Hanson (Ft. Worth, TX/Independence CC) hit a jumper with 13 seconds left but Bryan Friday nailed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half to give the Bulldogs an 11-point halftime lead.
The Eagles hit 42 percent from the field but missed all six 3-point attempts and committed 11 turnovers. Samford shot 52 percent from the field, including 6-of-13 from long distance. GS did out-rebound Samford by nine.
Troupe had nine points in the first half while Friday led Samford with 12.
Turnovers and cold shooting plagued the Eagles to start the second half as Samford went on a 17-4 run to the first media timeout, surging ahead 53-29 and would never look back.
Troupe and Drayton led the Eagles with nine points each. GS shot 35.2 percent for the game, went 8-of-11 at the free throw line and out-rebounded Samford 38-27. The Bulldogs finished 48 percent from the field, hit 9-of-23 from long distance and 10-of-11 at the line.
Trey Montgomery scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the second half. Friday finished with 14 and Curtis West and Josh Davis added 10 points each.
The Eagles finish the road trip on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31), with a 5 p.m. game at Chattanooga. The game will be televised live on SportSouth.
