STATESBORO, Ga. – Tookie Brown scored a season-high 29 points on 9 of 10 shooting, and Georgia Southern canned seven straight 3-pointers to start the second half en route to an 88-65 men's basketball victory over Georgia State Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse. 

The win gives Southern a point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, which makes the score Georgia State 6, Georgia Southern 3.

Ike Smith collected 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a season-high four steals for Georgia Southern (8-6, 1-0), and Mike Hughes tallied 12 points and three steals.

Jeremy Hollowell recorded 21 points and seven rebounds to lead Georgia State (7-6, 0-1), and Jeff Thomas chipped in 11 points and six boards.

It was the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools.

The story
Leading 32-29, Southern scored the final four points of the first half and opened the second period with four straight 3-pointers – two by Jake Allsmiller and two by Smith. Hughes added two more bombs from the wing, 
and Brown got into the act as Southern pushed the margin to 67-37 7:30 into the half. It wound up being a 35-8 run over eight minutes of game time.

Southern matched its season high by shooting 54.7 percent from the field for the game, and the Eagles shot 58 percent in the second half, while holding State to 33 percent for the contest. The Eagles also forced 22 Panther turnovers and turned them into 23 points, and made 10 of 25 from 3-point range.

Quotables from head coach Mark Byington
"We have good shooters. Last year, we were one of the tops in the country, and there has been times this year where we haven't shot the ball great. I just feel like it's a matter of time if we just keep taking the right shots. Sometimes what you see with us and how we play is that if we're making threes, we're also getting to the rim more and getting drives more and an inside game. When the guys make shots like that, it gives them confidence, and it's one of those contagious things too."

"We made a bunch of shots in the second half that separated the game, and then the guys got going a little bit. I was happy for them to have a moment like that and make some shots and then you have to calm them down and tell them to play defense. When you are dealing with 18, 19 and 20-year-olds, you want them to play the right way, and we've been a part of that on the other end. You tell them the same thing when you are down 20 or 30 that you tell them when you're up in that situation - that you want them to play the right way."

Next up
Georgia Southern continues its four-game homestand by hosting Troy Saturday, Jan. 7. It's another Sun Belt doubleheader with the women's teams, and tipoff is set for 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

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