MOBILE, Ala. – Nick Stover came off the bench to score 16 points, and South Alabama shot 52 percent to snap Georgia Southern's eight-game win streak, topping the Eagles, 78-66, in Sun Belt men's basketball action Saturday night in the Mitchell Center.
Tookie Brown posted 23 points and three assists to lead Georgia Southern (14-7, 7-1), and
Mike Hughes contributed 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Montae Glenn posted his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Stover was 5 of 7 from the field and 3 of 4 from 3-point range for South Alabama (10-11, 3-5). Ken Williams tallied 15 points and eight assists, and Josh Ajayi chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds. Nick Davis collected 13 points and eight boards.
The story
Trailing 52-40 early in the second half, South Alabama used a monstrous 20-3 run, capped by a Davis dunk, to take control of the game. Georgia Southern went 1 for 6 from the free throw line and made just one field goal during the spurt that lasted over seven minutes.
The margin grew to nine on a Stover 3-pointer from the wing with 3:34 to go. GS got a few defensive stops and made three free throws to cut the deficit to 71-65 with 2:54 to play. The Eagles had a chance to get closer but Glenn's tip-in off a missed 3-pointer rolled around the rim and off. Ajayi got a fast-break dunk at the other end, and the Eagles did not mount a threat the rest of the way.
The Eagles, who made 7 for 15 from 3-point range in the first half, shot 3 of 19 from downtown in the second frame. That cold spurt culminated in GS missing three 3-pointers during one trip down the floor while trying to get back in the game late in the contest. Georgia Southern missed its final 13 shots of the game and shot 21 percent in the second half.
Georgia Southern made its first five shots of the game, but the Eagles found themselves trailing 17-16 midway through the first half.
Ike Smith scored the first five points in an 11-3 run that put GS ahead 32-22, but South Alabama scored the final five points of the period to trim the margin to 40-36 at the break.
Quotables from Head Coach Mark Byington
"We had empty possessions, and a lot of them were when we go to the free-throw line, and we miss the front end of a one-and-one or we missed both. Then, there were some turnovers. And a lot of times our turnovers fueled them and got them out in transition. We had our chances, but we didn't finish some plays or we weren't tough enough. And give them credit. They made a couple big threes and some big shots that you have to make to win the game. I told the guys that to win on the road in college basketball is really hard, but you can't make mistakes that are going to sort of give the game away. I felt like we made too many mistakes to be able to win the game."
Next up
Georgia Southern travels to Troy Monday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
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