STATESBORO, Ga. – Mike Hughes tallied 15 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists, and Georgia Southern held ULM to 30 percent shooting to earn a 66-51 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball victory over the Warhawks Saturday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Hughes was 4 of 6 from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line for Georgia Southern (6-10, 2-4), which never trailed in the contest.
Ike Smith collected 12 points and six rebounds while
Tookie Brown chipped in 12 points and four assists.
Justin Robertson scored a game-high 20 points, and added four rebounds and three assists for ULM (6-11, 2-4), while Majok Deng scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Eagles held the Warhawks to 18 of 59 from the floor, including 6 of 28 in the first half while building a 32-21 cushion at the break. ULM finished 7 of 28 from 3-point range.
The storyLeading by three points, the Eagles outscored the Warhawks 11-3 over the first half's final three minutes. Hughes scored the final seven points of the stretch as the sophomore knocked down two triples and tacked on a free throw to one of them after he was fouled on the shot. An 8-0 ULM run, keyed by 3-pointers from Deng and Roberson, trimmed the margin to four points midway through the second half. Georgia Southern responded with a 13-3 run, ignited by a conventional 3-point play by Smith when he was fouled on a dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. ULM cut the margin to nine points on a Lance Richards 3-pointer with 2:44 to go, but Smith answered with a pair of free throws and
Devonte Boykins threw down a dunk after a steal by Smith to hold off the Warhawks.
Quotable from Coach Mark Byington"The first thing that stands out about this game was our defensive intensity from the start. That reminded me of the team we had last year and the fact that they really, really guarded. They were focused on the defensive plan - they were protecting each other on defense - so I was really proud of our defense. Offense wasn't great. The second half we got a nice rhythm there, about four to five minutes, but our defense won us the game. I'm really proud of our guys, and I think we're breaking through right now."
On free throws "We missed two on the 1-and-1s, but besides that, I thought we were great on the free-throw line. We made big ones and sometimes when it was hard to score in the game and the baskets were hard to come by, we made them then. But I've got a lot of guys who aren't scared of the moment to get up at the free-throw line. Hopefully, they can keep getting up there and learning that they can make big free throw and put the game away."
On confidence going into the remainder of the season "I don't think there's a huge talent discrepancy with teams on a night-to-night basis. There's good players in this league. You've got to prep well, you've got to be focused and you have to take care of your body because it's a long distance race, but it does help our confidence. Now we can go on the road with a couple home wins."
Next upThe Eagles head to Atlanta on Tuesday to take on the Georgia State Panthers. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. and will air live on ESPN3 and the GS Radio Network. One point is on the line in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series.
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