STATESBORO – Tookie Brown hit a 3-pointer from the wing as the final buzzer sounded to lift Georgia Southern to a 72-69 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Little Rock Saturday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Brown turned down a ball screen, took a couple side dribbles, stepped back and launched the triple over the outstretched hand of Little Rock defender Cameron Corcoran that hit nothing but net as time expired.
The junior finished the day with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists for Georgia Southern (12-5, 3-1), which improved to 6-0 in Hanner this season.
Quan Jackson made 6 of 8 from the floor and tallied 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, while
Jake Allsmiller recorded 11 points and two assists.
Ike Smith collected 10 points, four rebounds and two helpers, and
Montae Glenn tallied nine points, a team-high 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Oliver Black posted 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Little Rock (4-13, 1-3), and Corcoran scored 14. Andre Jones chipped in 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The story
Little Rock erased a 10-point deficit as the Eagles missed 11 of 12 shots from the field during an eight-minute stretch in the second half. The Trojans took the lead with a 14-2 run, ignited by a Corcoran 3-pointer, and went ahead, 61-59, on a Jaizec Lottie layup with 5:50 remaining.
After Jones' dunk on a backdoor cut gave LR a 63-60 lead, the Eagles scored the next six, and
Mike Hughes transition triple from the wing gave GS a three-point cushion with 2:28 to play. GS was ahead four with a minute to go, but Jones made two free throws for Little Rock and after an Eagle turnover, Corcoran drove to the hoop and scooped in a contested layup to tie the game 69-69 with 18 seconds left.
The Trojans shot 60 percent from the field, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, in the second half.
Quotables
Junior guard Tookie Brown
On the last shot
"I was kind of shocked that it went in, but it felt good, and my teammates kept lifting me up throughout the game because I was kind of down a little bit. This was big for us. Tonight showed us a lot of guys can do different things and make big plays when we need them in tight games, and that will help us as we keep going in the Sun Belt."
Head coach Mark Byington
On the last play
"I had a timeout to use, but the only thing in my mind was that if Tookie didn't have the ball in his hands, I was going to call timeout and get the ball in his hands. I trust him and trust him making the right play. Giving him the ball was my decision, and turning down the screen was his decision and that's our guy, we're going to live or die with his decision. And it was a great decision. A couple games ago at South Alabama, his decision was to take the screen and he drew the double team and made a great pass to Quan in the corner. It didn't go down, but that was the right decision too. We talk all the time about playing to win and being aggressive and living with the results, and that's what we did tonight."
On the crowd getting into it
"I think we needed them, and the game was completely out of rhythm with fouls and different things like that. We were a little frustrated because at times, it was physical and at times, it was a touchy game so we just weren't in rhythm, and we needed the crowd to give us the extra boost and sure enough, they did. We got a stop, and then
Mike Hughes hit a 3 in transition so that was huge."
Next up
The Eagles open a three-game road trip at Coastal Carolina Thursday at the HTC Center with tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m. Following the road swing, GS closes the regular-season with seven of its final 11 contests at home.
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