AUBURN, ALA. – Georgia Southern dropped a 92-62 decision to Auburn in a contest that was much closer than the final score indicated. The Eagles trailed by just one at the break, but saw Auburn win the second half 55-26. Mike Hughes led all scorers with 15 points including a pair of buckets from downtown.

THE STORY
Georgia Southern erased a 10-point first half deficit in the final minutes of the first half with a 10-2 run to trail by just one at the halftime break. The Tigers, however, went on a 24-10 run over the first eight minutes of the second half to extend the lead to 61-48 with 12 minutes left in the game. From there the Tigers stretched the lead to as many as 32 en route to the 92-62 victory.

The Eagles committed 26 fouls, sending the Tigers to the free throw line where they made 25-of-33. Auburn ruled the paint with 38 points inside while the Eagles converted 14 Auburn turnovers into 12 points.

TEAM LEADERS
Hughes was 5-of-10 from the field with four rebounds while freshman Ike Smith grabbed seven rebounds to go with 13 points. Freshman Tookie Brown came off the bench to score 11 points with seven at the charity stripe.

WHAT HEAD COACH MARK BYINGTON SAID
"We lost our identity in the second half. I told the guys that for 60 minutes this week (40 at Ole Miss and 20 tonight) our identity was toughness, defense, rebounding and things that give us a chance to win the game. We were scoring in the first four minutes of the second half, but we turned it into a pickup game and that is not going to favor us. We still kept battling in the second half, but we ran out of gas."

NEXT UP
The next challenge for the Eagles is three games in the Upstate Challenge, hosted by USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. Georgia Southern battles The Citadel on Wednesday before a Black Friday matinee against USC Upstate. The tournament closes at home against Bob Jones on Monday, Nov. 30.

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