PHOTO GALLERY | HEWITT INTERVIEW | BYINGTON INTERVIEW

TAMPA, FLA. – Georgia Southern's starters shined as the Eagles took a 68-63 win over South Florida on Monday night inside the Sun Dome. Jelani Hewitt dominated the game, leading all scorers with 33 points including 5-of-8 from downtown and 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. Trent Wiedeman added 17 points with seven rebounds as he sits just three points shy of 1,000 career points.

The Eagles led by four at halftime and opened the second half on a 14-2 run, including 12-straight points out of the locker room. USF battled back to make it a three-point game with 1:52 remaining. Hewitt drained a dagger the next time down the floor, burying a three-pointer with 1:20 left to put the Eagles up by six entering the game's final minute. The Eagles made their free throws down the stretch to take the win.

"We have been close in some games like this so it was good for us to make some big plays down the stretch," said Head Coach Mark Byington. "Jelani Hewitt's three-pointer late was a dagger, and Angel Matias made a big dunk late. I was proud of our guys, they stuck together. We felt like we had a chance to get a game like this coming in, and obviously the guys believed we could win."

Georgia Southern's starters scored all 68 points for the Eagles, marking the first time since March 20th, 1992 in the NCAA Tournament against Oklahoma State that the bench was held scoreless.

Angel Matias had seven points, six rebounds in front of family members who made the trek from Puerto Rico. Mike Hughes scored six points with six rebounds and a season-best four assists to finish as the Eagles' top distributer. Kyle Doyle made his first start of the season and scored five with four rebounds.

South Florida was led by 16 points and 12 rebounds from Chris Perry, while Dinero Mercurius scored 13 and Nehemias Morillo added 11 points with seven rebounds. The Eagles held USF's leading scorer, Corey Allen, to just eight points, well off his season average of 17.1 ppg.

Senior Eric Ferguson made his first appearance for the Eagles' this season as his suspension was lifted before the contest. The Statesboro native went 0-for-4 from the field in eight minutes of play as he blocked a shot.

The Eagles dominated the game, allowing USF to lead for just 42 total seconds in the game with four ties and four lead changes. Georgia Southern coaxed 17 USF turnovers and converted that into 17 points off turnovers.

Next up for Georgia Southern is another road game with a trip to Stetson on Thursday night on ESPN3. The game starts at 7 p.m. from DeLand with radio coverage on the Georgia Southern Sports Network by Learfield Sports.

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