CONWAY, S.C. – Tookie Brown scored 22 points, and Georgia Southern won for the first time in Conway, posting a 77-66 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Coastal Carolina Thursday night in the HTC Center.

Brown hit 3 of 4 from long distance and nailed all nine of his free throws as the Eagles (13-5, 4-1) made 21 of 24 from the charity stripe as a team. Ike Smith made his first start since Nov. 25 and tallied 19 points and four rebounds, while Montae Glenn scored a career-high 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and shot a perfect 6 of 6 from the field. Mike Hughes grabbed seven rebounds to go over 500 for his career.

Jaylen Shaw tallied 21 points and five assists to lead Coastal Carolina (7-11, 1-4), and Zac Cuthbertson collected 15 points and eight rebounds. Demario Beck tallied 11 points and five boards but fouled out with 9:16 left in the contest.

The story
The Eagles held the Chanticleers to 2 of 19 from 3-point range and made 10 of 22 3-point tries on the other end. The Chants trimmed an 11-point deficit down to six points once and seven points five times in the second half but would get no closer as GS answered the bell every time.
 
Coastal Carolina trailed 64-57 after an Artur Labinowicz layup with 3:49 to play, but GS scored the next eight points and took a 72-57 advantage on a Glenn dunk off a nifty pass from Mike Hughes with 1:47 remaining. The Eagles made 5 of 6 from the charity stripe in the last minute to seal the win.

The Eagles stretched a four-point lead into a 37-26 halftime advantage by ending the first period with an 11-4 run. Brown scored five points during the stretch, Quan Jackson nailed a triple from the corner and GS held the Chanticleers to 0 for 6 from the floor and forced three turnovers in the final 5:20 of the frame.

Next up
The Eagles continue their three-game road trip at Appalachian State Saturday with tipoff set for 3:30 p.m.

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