STATESBORO, Ga. – Mike Hughes led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points, and Georgia Southern grabbed a share of first place in the Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings with a 78-70 victory over UL Lafayette before a sellout crowd of 4,325 in Hanner Fieldhouse Thursday night.

This game was tremendous," said Head Coach Mark Byington. "l keep talking about building an environment, and our fans coming out was a huge reason why we won this game. For our players to look up in the stands and see the support they have was great for our guys. It was also great for our fans to share something like that with us."


Hughes also tallied seven rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Eagles (11-3, 4-1), while Jelani Hewitt collected 17 points and three assists. Curtis Diamond finished with 12 points, and Angel Matias contributed 11 points and five rebounds.

Shawn Long registered 18 points and eight rebounds to lead UL Lafayette (10-6, 4-1), and Hayward Register netted 12 points. Brian Williams chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.
 
A pair of Hughes free throws with 22 seconds left and a defensive stop on the other end clinched it for the Eagles after UL Lafayette cut a double-digit deficit to three points with 31 seconds to go.
 
Matias put the Eagles up 67-56 with a layup 3:17 remaining, but a Williams 3-pointer sparked a 14-6 UL Lafayette run and Jay Wright's free throw made the score 73-70 with 31 seconds left. The Ragin' Cajuns fouled Hughes, who made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, and the freshman pulled down the rebound after Register's triple try was off the mark. Hughes sank two more free throws to put the game on ice.
 
The capacity crowd of 4,325 was the largest in Hanner Fieldhouse since a Jan. 17, 2009, game against a Stephen Curry-led Davidson team (4,360).
 
Trailing 41-29, Long scored eight points in a 13-2 Ragin' Cajun run that cut the margin to two points early in the second half. Long's rainbow 3-pointer from the top of the key made the score 44-42 with 4:58 gone in the frame. The Eagles responded with a 12-4 run, capped by consecutive jumpers by Eric Ferguson, to push the margin back to 10 points.
 
Hewitt scored eight points in a 16-4 run that gave the Eagles a 29-16 lead with 2:59 left in the first half. The Ragin' Cajuns closed the frame with a 6-1 run and trailed 35-27 at halftime.
 
All-session ticket books to this year's Sun Belt Basketball Championships March 11-15 in New Orleans are available for $99 at the Georgia Southern Ticket Office. Call 1-800-GSU-WINS.
 
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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.