Box Score STATESBORO, GA. – On a day that had a little bit of everything including an appearance by new football coach Willie Fritz and a tornado warning, Georgia Southern came up just short against Western Carolina, 67-68.

"We told the guys that this was going to be an ugly game and we needed to find a way to get stops on the defensive end and get the win. We did that in spurts tonight," said Head Coach Mark Byington. "I think our guys are starting to understand how important every possession is and how tough it is to win tough games. Western Carolina was ready to play tonight and we were right there. We've just got to put ourselves in those situations enough where the experience helps us."

Jelani Hewitt led four Georgia Southern (8-9, 1-1 SoCon) scorers in double figures with 23 points to continue his reign as the league's top scorer. Tre Bussey scored 14 points while Angel Matias and Brian Holmes each added 11 points.

As a unit, the Eagles had their worst night of the season from downtown, going 2-for-15 from the bonusphere. Overall this year the Eagles have averaged 8.1 buckets from beyond the arc this season.

Western Carolina (10-8, 2-0 SoCon) was led by 15 points from Savannah native James Sinclair. The pair of Brandon Boggs and Trey Sumler had 13 points each. It was Sumler's lowest output in a month and well off his season average of 19.6 ppg.

Georgia Southern led by a deuce at the break, but an 8-0 run by the visitors gave Western Carolina (10-8, 2-0 SoCon) a six-point lead early in the second stanza as Coach Byington was forced to take an early timeout. Four minutes later, however, the Eagle would re-take the lead on a pair of free throws from Hewitt.

The Eagles traded the lead through the second half multiple times, but a two-pointer with 7:50 put the Catamounts on top for good.

WCU led by six points, their largest margin of the night, with 1:46 left, but a three-pointer from Brian Holmes cut the lead to three with 90 seconds left. A Sumler lay-in with 58 seconds left took the lead to five inside the final minute.

Tre Bussey made the back-end of his two free throws with 47 seconds and two more with 40 seconds left to make the Catamount lead with a five second differential between the shot clock and game clock.

Western brought the ball down the floor and the Eagles went for the defensive stand, but Sumler made a 15-footer with seven seconds left, making the lead four.

Georgia Southern was unable to get a quick look and Hewitt made a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to extend the contest. Sumler missed both free throws at the other end to give the Eagles a chance at the win. Kyle Doyle put up a desperation heave at the horn, but was unsuccessful.

Georgia Southern is back at home on Thursday night against Furman in the last of three-straight home games. Tipoff on Georgia Southern Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day is set for 7 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse.

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 twitter.com/GSAthletics.