Eagles Take Miami to Overtime, Fall 81-80

Monday, November 11

Coral Gables, Fla.

7 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

1-1

Miami

1-1

Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Georgia Southern	32	35	13	80
Miami	35	32	14	81

11/11/2013 10:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Jelani Hewitt posts 27 points in his return to Miami-Dade County

| Final Stats | Press Conference

11-11-13 7 p.m. at BankUnited Center | Coral Gables, Fla. | A-4654

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI 81, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 80
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Georgia Southern..............   32   35   13  -   80
University of Miami...........   35   32   14  -   81

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GEORGIA SOUTHERN (1-1)

HEWITT, Jelani 8-20 8-8 27; BUSSEY, Tre 7-12 4-4 20; HOLMES, Brian 5-8 4-4

17; DIAMOND, Curtis 3-7 0-0 7; DOYLE, Kyle 2-5 0-0 5; BAYNHAM, Marvin 1-2

0-0 2; MIKE, Sam 1-2 0-0 2; MATIAS, Angel 0-1 0-0 0; DUNNICAN, Kameron 0-0

0-0 0. Totals 27-57 16-16 80.

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI (1-1)

Donnavan Kirk 7-13 3-3 18; Rion Brown 3-13 7-8 15; Manu Lecomte 4-8 2-2 12;

Garrius Adams 2-8 7-10 11; James Kelly 5-8 0-0 10; Davon Reed 1-5 4-4 7;

Erik Swoope 2-5 2-2 6; Tonye Jekiri 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 25-64 25-29 81.

CORAL GABLES, FLA. – Georgia Southern erased a 10-point second half deficit and forced overtime against the Miami. The Eagles held a 80-79 lead with 32 seconds left, but a pair of free throws by freshman Manu Lecomte gave the Canes the 81-80 win.

"One of the things I told the guys before the game was to focus on each possession." said Head Coach Mark Byington. "So when we got up we knew they would make a run and at the same point when they went up, I knew we weren't going to give up and make a run at them. You learn a lot of things from games like this and a game like this will help us out later in the year."

Junior Jelani Hewitt, making a return to his hometown, scored a game-high 27 points and dished five assists on the night. He dropped three buckets from downtown and went 8-for-8 from the stripe. Hewitt had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but his three-point shot hit front iron and did not fall.

Tre Bussey scored 20 points while Brian Holmes added 17 for the Eagles. As a team, Georgia Southern matched the school record for best night at the free throw line, going 16-for-16 from the charity stripe. The mark matches the school record of 11-for-11 against Georgia Tech in 1960.

Georgia Southern falls to 1-1 on the season while Miami picks up their first victory of the season, improving to 1-1.
Miami was led by a double-double from Donnavan Kirk with 18 points and 10 rebounds. In total, five Hurricanes scored in double figures.

The Eagles led for most of the first half, extending the lead out to nine points with 10:59 left in the opening period. Miami, however, erased the Eagle advantage and took a three-point lead into halftime despite shooting 30% to the Eagles' 50% mark from the field.

After making five of seven shots from the field between 16:47 and 12:49 in the second half, Miami responded with a 10-2 run to extend their advantage to 10 points with 8:52 left. GSU scored five-straight over the next minute to make the score 57-52 with eight minutes remaining.

After the third media timeout of the second half at 6:34, Georgia Southern posted an 8-1 run to tie the game 60-60 entering the final five minutes of the game. Three-pointers from Kyle Doyle and Hewitt did most of the damage. A fade-away by Curtis Diamond at 4:21 gave the Eagles their first lead of the second half.

Georgia Southern opened the lead to five points with 2:46 left, but Miami tied the game with 45 seconds on the clock. A Miami deuce, followed by a pair of Hewitt free throws forced overtime for the first time in 2013-14.

Miami scored a three-pointer in the first 20 seconds of overtime as the teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of overtime play. The Eagles got a defensive stop with 1:44 remaining, allowing Holmes to drain a three-pointer, and putting the Eagles up one inside the final 90 seconds.

On the next possession UM got an old fashioned three-point play from Garrius Adams. Bussey earned a trip to the line on the next trip down the floor with 32 seconds remaining, scoring both to earn a one-point lead.

Up one with Miami holding for the last shot, Holmes was called for a blocking foul as Lecomte drove the wing. He went to the line and made both shots, giving the ball back to GSU with nine seconds left. The Eagles worked the offense for Hewitt and the junior took a contested three pointer at the buzzer which clanged off the iron.

Next up for Georgia Southern is a home game against Toccoa Falls on Saturday night. The game wraps-up a tripleheader at Hanner Fieldhouse that spans all afternoon. The Eagles take the floor at 8 p.m.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and witter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.