Georgia Southern Closes Road Swing with 83-56 Loss at Davidson
2/17/2011 3:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball could not answer Davidson's 58 percent sharpshooting from the field as the Wildcats took the 83-56 win over the Eagles on Wednesday night (Feb. 16th) at Belk Arena. Junior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) scored his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists. The Eagles controlled the game for the first five minutes before the Wildcats answered with a 21-0 run.
"I'm disappointed that our young team has to learn the hard lesson in the way they did tonight," said Eagles Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young. "We pressed them hard and were aggressive and disruptive defensively, maybe more so than was expected. The score tonight wasn't indicative of the difference between our team and Davidson. When we get down, we have to be able to respond when things aren't going our way."
Drayton was 5-of-12 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line to lead the Eagles in scoring. Freshman Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) and senior Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) each scored 10 points on the night as Ferguson had eight rebounds and Spencer made two blocks.
Freshman Tré Bussey (Lithia Springs, Ga.) scored nine points, all in the second half, while sophomore Cameron Baskerville (Marietta, Ga.) and freshman Jelani Hewitt (Oakland Park, Fla.) posted five points. The Wildcats were led in scoring by JP Kuhlman's 19 points and saw Nik Cochran and Jake Cohen add 18 each.
Georgia Southern came out strong to take a quick lead off four-straight points from Spencer. The Eagles upped the advantage to five when Hewitt buried a jumper at 15:25, but Davidson answered with a 21-0 run over the next seven minutes to stretch the lead to 26-10. GSU made four less baskets than Davidson in the first half, but the Eagles were called for 18 fouls and the Wildcats converted 19 trips to the charity stripe into 15 first-half points. GSU shot 9-for-23 from the field and were 3-for-5 from the line in the first period. The Wildcats took a 45-22 lead into the locker room.
Out of the break, Davidson's offense continued to build its lead while maintaining a field goal percentage above 50 perent. Georgia Southern was reduced to nine eligible players at 14:38 as freshman Marvin Baynham picked up his fifth foul. The Eagles responded through the middle portions of the period as Drayton scored 12 of his 16 points and Bussey went 3-of-4 from downtown in the second half.
Davidson took a commanding lead with five minutes remaining in the game, however, a 13-5 run by the Eagles in the final 2:15 reduced the final deficit to 27 points at 83-56.
Georgia Southern shot .404 from the field to Davidson's .558 for the game. The Eagles were .600 (6-of-10) from downtown to Davidson's .438 (7-of-16). GSU came up on the short side of the rebounding battle, 40-21. Fouls for the game were close with GSU committing 25 to Davidson's 21. The Wildcats, however, were 18-of-23 (.783) from the free throw line to Georgia Southern's 12-for-17 (.706).
The Eagles will close out the 2011 regular season with three-straight home games against The Citadel (Feb. 19th), UNC Greensboro (Feb. 24th) and Elon (Feb. 26th). The 2011 Southern Conference Tournament opens on Friday, March 4th in Chattanooga, Tenn.
On Saturday (Feb. 19th), The Southern Explosion Dance Team will host its annual dance camp starting at 10 a.m. at the GSU Recreation Activity Center. The camp is for ages 6-18 and will include a performance during the Men's Basketball game against The Citadel. The cost is $30 per participant and includes lunch and a T-shirt for the performance. For more information, contact Bryan Realiza at bryan.realiza@gmail.com.
The first 50 fans for Saturday's game will receive a Chick-fil-A cow, coupons and sandwiches. At halftime, a performance by the Moore Elementary School Jump Rope Team of Dublin, Ga., will entertain the crowd.
Fans may follow Georgia Southern Men's Basketball by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/basketball or check in at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics for short updates.
