STATESBORO – Seven Eagles scored in double figures, and Georgia Southern outscored Bluefield State 70-22 in the second half on its way to a 120-52 men's basketball victory over the Big Blues Thursday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Ike Smith led the way for the Eagles (3-0) with 20 points, and Jake Allsmiller tallied 17 points and four rebounds. Shawn O'Connell put up 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Quan Jackson netted a career-high 13 points to go along with four steals.

Jared Hamilton recorded 11 points and seven rebounds, and Tookie Brown posted 12 points and seven assists. Montae Glenn collected 10 points and 10 rebounds with just three field goal attempts as the junior canned all eight of his free-throw attempts. Mike Hughes chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Korey Williams tallied 11 points and four assists to lead Bluefield State (2-1), and Joseph Adeyemo collected seven points and 10 rebounds.

The story
Leading 33-25, the Eagles capped the first half with a 17-5 run to take control of the contest. Allsmiller hit a pair of back-to-back triples to spark the run while Glenn and Brown each drained four free throws. Meanwhile, Bluefield state missed seven of its final eight shots of the period.

Smith scored the final 13 points in a 20-2 Eagle run to start the second half as Georgia Southern opened a 70-32 advantage 5:21 into the frame. The Eagles' 120 points were six shy of the school modern era record of 126, set against Georgia State in 1974. Eleven of the 12 Eagles who played tonight scored a bucket.

Georgia Southern held Bluefield State to 25 percent shooting for the game, including 5-for-33 in the second half. The Eagles also forced 25 turnovers with the help of 15 steals.

Quotables
Senior guard Jake Allsmiller
On getting good looks tonight
"It's really a pick your poison type of thing. If you want to help in and take away the layup from Tookie, then I'm going to be wide open and hopefully make the 3. Most teams in our first two games stuck on me pretty good so I didn't get too many shots, but tonight, everything kind of opened up and it was a lot easier for me to get my feet set and shoot the ball."

On seeing teammates' success
"It's fun when everybody gets in and gets in the book, especially in the end when we are getting out in transition and getting dunks and everybody is getting a lot of minutes. It's a lot of fun and really exciting for our team dynamic."

Head coach Mark Byington
Overall
"It was a really beneficial game for us because I got to see what some other guys can do in a game atmosphere, and I thought our bench did a great job of giving us some different things, whether it be scoring, rebounding or defense. I'm trying to build some of those guys up and hopefully gave them some confidence."

On depth
"The way our conference works, we're always going to play two games in three days, and sometimes somebody is going to be sick or hurt, and you are going to need that next guy to have experience and step up. We're about to play four games in six days so we're going to need different guys. I like our depth, and we have to find out roles and figure out who is going to do what and how guys can help the team. We're sorting through all that right now."

Next up
Georgia Southern continues the Gulf Coast Showcase tournament next week at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla. The Eagles face Missouri State Monday at 1:30 p.m. and play either UMKC or Manhattan Tuesday. 

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.