Eagles Bite Bulldogs 61-58
1/29/2010 4:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga - In the largest comeback in Georgia Southern basketball history, the Eagles went on a 16-4 run over 7:33 to close out the game and record a 61-58 win over The Citadel. Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) scored 12 points in the second half, including the final six to secure the victory at Hanner Fieldhouse. Powers hit the 26th and 27th free throw of the contest for the final score. Antonio Hanson (Ft. Worth, Texas) added 11 and Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) had 10 off the bench.
"We defended one of the best backcourts in the league tonight in Cameron Wells and Zach Urbanus," said Eagles head coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We did a tremendous job in making every catch difficult for them and that was the difference in the game."
Bulldog guard Cameron Wells was the only player for The Citadel in double figures with a game-high 25 points. The Eagles' Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) had a game high seven rebounds, even though Georgia Southern was outrebounded in the game 26-21. Spencer also had four blocks and was 6-6 from the free throw line.
Down 21 points at the 16:50 mark of the second half, the Eagles began chipping away at the Bulldog lead. Colby Wohlleb (Boca Raton, Fla.) hit a three pointer and the Eagles followed with six straight free throws before a jumper by Hanson got the Eagles to within a dozen, 36-48. Powers hit 4-5 from the field, including a three pointer and had a perfect10-10 from the free throw line. Powers hit the first two of his four straight free throws at 8:24 to cut The Citadel lead to single digits, nine, for the first time in the second half. He hit Hanson for a three and then Hanson stole a pass and scored a layup to bring the score to 47-51, The Citadel.
Wells hit a jumper and then Harrison DuPont brought the lead back up to seven with a layup, 48-55 with 4:07 left in the game. Drayton nailed his only three-pointer of the night and the Eagles outscored The Citadel 13-3 with the Bulldogs going 1-7 from the field after DuPont's basket. Urbanus hit a three with 1:17 left to finish the scoring for the Bulldogs.
The Citadel took a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game and the Eagles didn't score their first basket until the 9:30 mark when Drayton hit a jumper. The Eagles trailed 17-6 with six straight free throws from Troupe, Cameron Baskerville (Marietta, Ga.) and Drayton. Georgia Southern (6-16, 3-6 SoCon) shot only 27.8 percent in the first half with five baskets and found itself down 32-21 at the half with 10 points coming off free throws. In the second half, the Eagles connected on 52.6 percent and held The Citadel (10-11, 4-5) to the tune of 40 percent shooting in the second half. With the disruptive nature of the defense, GSU forced the Bulldogs into their season high turnovers with 21.
The Eagles finished the game with a season best 96.4 free throw percentage, going 27-28. All six of Georgia Southern's wins have come at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern plays host to College of Charleston in Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday, January 30, at 1 p.m. "Cheerleader for a Day" begins at 9 a.m. and registrations for children ages 4-14 will be accepted that morning. Cost of the event is $35. At halftime, Chester Webb, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in the history of the program will be honored as his No. 22 Georgia Teachers College jersey will be retired.
