Eagles Power Past Arkansas State, 73-61

Thursday, January 8

State University, AR

8:30 PM

Georgia Southern University

Arkansas State

Ga. Southern

Arkansas State

Curtis Diamond

Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics

1/8/2015 10:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Early 24-0 run propels the Eagles to victory

JONESBORO, ARK. – After playing one of the lowest scoring games in recent history, Georgia Southern rolled to a 73-61 win over Arkansas State on Thursday night to open a two-game road swing. The Eagles were led by 18 points from Jelani Hewitt who also added five rebounds and two steals. Next up is a Saturday afternoon matinee at South Alabama.

"The first ten minutes of the game we were locked-in defensively and that got us started well," said Head Coach Mark Byington. "Jake Allsmiller's shot on the first possession gave us confidence, and Jelani Hewitt was a great leader for us tonight."

The Eagles (9-3, 2-1 Sun Belt) rattled off a 24-0 run early in the first half en route to leading 41-26 at halftime and didn't look back in the second period. Hewitt led all scorers with 17 points, while Curtis Diamond scored his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and a career-best 10 rebounds.

Angel Matias and Eric Ferguson each scored 11 points on Thursday night with both players scoring 4-of-7 from the field. Matias had eight rebounds, and Ferguson pulled six boards.

Arkansas State (6-7, 1-3 Sun Belt) was led by 17 points from Cameron Golden, while PJ Hardwick had 12, and Anthony Livingston scored 5-of-15 from the field for 11 points.
Jake Allsmiller got his first collegiate start and nailed a big three-pointer to give Georgia Southern an early 3-0 lead. The Red Wolves tied the game shortly thereafter, but a 24-0 run by the visitors gave the Eagles a big lead throughout the first half.

Midway through the second period, Arkansas State made a run to cut the lead back to 10 points, but the Eagles answered that, pushing the lead back to 19 in the final five minutes. A late 9-0 run by the home side gave the local fans hope, but good free throw shooting iced the victory.

The Eagles travel to South Alabama on Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. (ET) game against the Jaguars inside the Mitchell Center. The game can be heard live on the Georgia Southern Sports Network from Learfield Sports.

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