Eagles Stroll Past Brewton-Parker 88-60
1/3/2012 4:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball earned a solid 88-60 win over Brewton-Parker to open 2012 and close the regular season non-conference schedule. The Eagles never trailed in the game and thoroughly dismantled their NAIA opposition. The victory is Georgia Southern's fourth of the season as conference play returns later this week.
"I feel like tonight our team learned how to do a better job at closing out a game," said Head Coach "C.Y." Young. "After such a disappointing loss last week at Auburn, our team really needed to come out and get that winning mentality back going into conference play. We did that tonight, and we are getting prepared for a very tough return to conference play against Elon and Davidson this weekend."
For the seventh time in 12 games this season, sophomore Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) led the Eagles (4-8, 2-0 SoCon) with 17 points. Ferguson also added three steals and a block to the Eagles' ledger. He was 8-for-10 from the field and added another from the charity stripe. As a team, Georgia Southern was 36-of-60 from the field for a season-high percentage of 60.0.
Standout honors, however, go to senior Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) with 11 points and 11 assists. One of the league's best point guards, Powers scored his third career double-double and the first since February 25, 2010 against Elon. He matched a career high in assists and allowed just two turnovers.
Sophomore Jelani Hewitt (Miramar, Fla.) reached double figures with 14 points, finishing a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Senior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) scored 13 points to go with five assists. Sophomore Tré Bussey (Lithia Springs, Ga.) rounded out the double figure scorers, adding 11 points of his own.
Freshman Kameron Dunnican (Sumter, S.C.) posted a team-high five rebounds to go with four points. Marvin Baynham (Miami, Fla.) and Tyrone Brown (Millen, Ga.) each scored six points while freshman Edwin Harvey (Statesboro, Ga.) scored his first career points with a late deuce.
Brewton-Parker (5-7) was led by 14 points from Darrie Stephens while Yan Moukoury posted 10 rebounds and eight points. Wendell Williams had 10 points for the Barons who shot just 43.6% from the field.
Georgia Southern opened the game shooting 70.8% from the field (17-of-24) its best outing, percentage wise, in a half this season. Ferguson posted 12 points in the opening period while Powers notched seven of his assists in the opening period as the Eagles took a 41-23 lead in the break.
GSU cooled in the second half from the field, shooting 19-of-36 for a 52.8% mark in the final 20 minutes of play. Despite the cooler performance, the Eagles posted 47 points, the fourth highest total in any period this season.
With 88 total points, Georgia Southern scored its second highest scoring output of the season and set a new season high in assists with 21 as a team. The Eagles took advantage of the 22 Brewton-Parker turnovers, converting them into 31 points and scoring 48 total points in the pain.
The Eagles take to the road again for a big pair of games in conference play against Elon and Davidson. GSU faces the Phoenix on Thursday night, January 5th, at 7 p.m. and close the road swing against Davidson on Saturday, January 7th, at 3 p.m. Saturday's game can be seen on the SoCon TV Network and online at ESPN3.com
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