STATESBORO – Tookie Brown tallied 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Georgia Southern held Arkansas State to 35 percent shooting to breeze past the Red Wolves, 80-49, in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action Thursday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Brown hit 7 of 12 from the floor, 3 of 5 from 3-point range and made all three free throws for Georgia Southern (11-5, 2-1).
Quan Jackson collected 14 points, five rebounds and two steals, while
Montae Glenn posted 14 points and 10 rebounds for the seventh double-double of his career and sixth this season.
Ty Cockfield scored 10 points to lead Arkansas State (6-10, 1-2), and Deven Simms finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
The story
The Eagles held the Red Wolves to 20 of 58 from the field, 4 of 27 from long distance and forced 16 turnovers that turned into 23 GS points.
Jackson scored eight points, including a four-point play to start the contest, as the Eagles jumped out to an 18-6 advantage in the first 4:34 of the game. The margin ballooned to 31-9 when
Jake Allsmiller stole the ball, passed to Brown, got the pass back and nailed a 3-pointer from the wing midway through the period. After Arkansas State trimmed the lead to 12 points, the Eagles scored the last six of the period to take a 44-26 cushion into the break.
A 23-6 run by the Eagles, keyed by 11 points from Brown, gave GS a 72-39 cushion with 8:26 to play, matching GS's largest lead of the contest.
Quotables
Freshman guard Quan Jackson
On the four-point play to start the game
"I came from the baseline and got the pass from Mike. I got it up, and he just ran through me and it went in. It's tough when you got somebody coming in because you start thinking about him, but you have to try to keep everything the same."
Junior forward Montae Glenn
On his play tonight
"We knew from the beginning that they were going to play a 2-3 so we had to set ball screens at the top of the key but we knew it would be a little different than man-to-man. I just find whatever I can do to help the team, which was offensive rebounds tonight because in zones, it's hard to box out."
Head coach Mark Byington
On offensive rebounding
"Montae does a good job of making multiple efforts to get offensive rebounds and keeping possessions long, and he's in shape and able to play longer and harder so he's doing a great job with that."
On 3-point defense
"They have a lot of dangerous shooters, and they have guys who can drive and shoot so it took great team defense to be able to stop them. There was a couple times they were able to get to the rim too easy in the first half, but for the most part, we were able to control the drives and still get out there and contest 3-point shooters. In the second half, I think we got lucky that they missed some open ones. We got caught on some rotations, and we have to fix that. For the most part the last couple games, our defense has been good."
Next up
The Eagles play host to Little Rock Saturday. The game will tip off at 5 p.m. and will air live on WSAV-CW and ESPN3. Promotions: Basketball Jersey Day - kids 12 and under receive free admission when they wear their team jersey, Georgia Southern jersey, or favorite NBA jersey to either game (with purchase of an adult ticket only).
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.
