Eagles Fall to Mountaineers
1/9/2011 2:19:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BOONE, N.C - The Georgia Southern Men's Basketball team fought back from a 14-point deficit in the first half and pulled within seven points of Appalachian State with eight minutes left in the game. A cold streak by the Eagles allowed the Mountaineers to close out the game with a 23-2 run en route to a 79-51 victory at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers' Omar Carter led all scorers with 25 points, while Eagles' senior forward Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) tied Appalachian State's Andre Williamson with a game-high seven rebounds. Junior guard Ben Drayton (St. Marys, Ga.) recorded a team-best 16 points for Georgia Southern.
Baskets by Drayton and Jelani Hewitt (Oakland Park, Fla.) and free throws by Spencer brought the Eagles within four points to start the second half, but a 10-4 run by Appalachian State extended the lead to double-figures, 52-42. A Zuri James (Stone Mountain, Ga.) three and layup by Cameron Baskerville (Marietta, Ga.) cut the lead to seven on two occasions.
Georgia Southern shot only 25.9 percent from the field in the second half, a sharp contrast from 54.2 field goal percentage in the first period. ASU shot 46.9 percent for the game and had nine three pointers to the Eagles' two. Spencer joined Drayton in the double-figure scoring column with 15 points including going 7-8 from the free throw line.
Appalachian State jumped out to a 20-6 lead to start the game, but eight points by the Eagles in a two-and-a-half minute span would reduce the lead to seven, 21-14. The Mountaineers responded with three-straight baskets to push their lead to double-digits. ASU flirted with a double-figure lead until the five-minute mark when back-to-back baskets by Drayton and a field goal by Tré Bussey (Lithia Springs, Ga.) trimmed the Appalachian State lead to five. Georgia Southern would go into halftime down by nine, 40-31.
Georgia Southern returns to action on Wednesday, January 12th, as it plays host to Wofford. The Eagles will conclude their two-game homestand against Furman on January 15
The January 12th game against Wofford has been designated as Junior Eagle Club Day. All Junior Eagle Club members receive free admission and are invited to a special pizza party when they present their Junior Eagle Club membership card at the entrance. The pizza party will begin 30 minutes before the start of the game. All Junior Eagle Club members should come to lower level of Hanner Fieldhouse next to the concession stand.
Follow the Eagle teams on GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or get short updates on facebook.com/GSAthletics or twitter.com/GSAthletics. For in-game scoring, visit twitter.com/GSScores or follow live stats by clicking on the "live stats" link in the schedule section at the bottom of the athletics website www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
