PEORIA, Ill. – Darrell Brown scored 19 points, and Bradley held Georgia Southern to a season-low 29 percent shooting from the field to earn a 62-57 men's basketball victory over the Eagles Saturday afternoon in Carver Arena.

Mike Hughes recorded 16 points and four rebounds for Georgia Southern (5-2), and Jake Allsmiller finished with 14 points and four boards. GS held Bradley to 34 percent shooting but made just 4-of-27 from 3-point range.

Donte Thomas tallied 10 points and seven rebounds for Bradley (6-1), while Elijah Childs collected 11 rebounds and Koch Bar had 14.

The story
GS trailed by 11 midway through the second half but used a 12-4 spurt, sparked by five points from Hughes, which cut the margin to 53-50. The Eagles had a chance to trim the deficit further but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 from the free-throw line with 3:20 to go.

Bradley held GS to 1-for-8 from the field over the last 4:06 while outscoring the Eagles 12-4. 

With the score tied 34-34, Bradley went on a 15-4 run to open a 49-38 lead early in the second period. Brown scored the first four points of the run, and Thomas netted six.

The Eagles were whistled for 17 of the 27 fouls called in the first half, and Bradley made 19 of 36 from the free-throw line in the contest.

Quotables
Head coach Mark Byington
"It was hard for our guys to get in a rhythm. It was a physical game, we had a lot of different lineups on the floor with foul trouble, and we had to figure it out. In the first half, we did what we wanted to do and gave ourselves a chance to win it in the second half. We didn't start the second half defensively very well, but for the most part, our defense was tremendous today."

"I just told the guys that this was as much toughness as they have shown, for a lot of these guys, in three years, and that's something we've been trying to build. It was crazy scheduling, and the game had to be when it was, our fourth game in six days and having to travel up here. Our guys didn't have legs but with all of that, the toughness that we showed was as good as it's been in years. It didn't help us today, but that's going to come back and help us."

"With three minutes to go, it was a one possession game. We didn't have Ike (Smith) the last seven minutes, and then we lost Montae (Glenn). We just battled and battled, and if we would have had just a little more, we could have won the game. Now, we have a little time that is going to be good for us. We need to get some guys healthy, get back to practice and get some things in and then hopefully, make a nice run in the last half of non-conference play."

Next up
The Eagles open a two-game homestand by playing host to Tennessee Wesleyan Saturday at 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

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