STATESBORO – Montae Glenn recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds and a career–high four blocked shots, and Georgia Southern made 8 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final 1:02 to pull away from South Alabama for an 81-74 Sun Belt men's basketball win Thursday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

With the victory, the Eagles maintained sole possession of third place in the Sun Belt standings, and the top-four teams receive a bye in the upcoming conference tournament March 7-11 in New Orleans at Lakefront Arena. A victory over Troy in the Eagles' home finale Saturday will solidify the third seed.

Glenn matched his career high in scoring and registered his eighth career double-double and seventh this season. Mike Hughes led Georgia Southern (19-11, 10-7) with 19 points to go along with five rebounds and made 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Tookie Brown collected 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Rodrick Sikes finished with a game-high 23 points for South Alabama (14-16, 7-10), though the Eagles held the junior to seven in the second half.  Herb McGee tallied 14 points and five assists. 

The story
The Eagles led 63-54 after a jumper by Hughes in the lane with 6:39 to play, but South Alabama scored 10 of the next 12 points to cut the margin to 65-64. McGee netted six straight during the run, and Trhae Mitchell capped it with a dunk with 4:14 to go.

Brown stopped the spurt with a layup and the GS defense dug in, holding the Jags without a field goal for the next two minutes. Brown added a free throw for the Eagles and fed Ike Smith for a triple from the wing to push the margin back to six. 

After Joe Thompson got free for a layup, Hughes made a runner in the lane with one second left on the shot clock, and the Jags committed a turnover on their ensuing possession. Smith, Hughes and Brown combined to make 8 of 10 free throws to put the game away.

Quotables 
Junior Montae Glenn
On matching career high in scoring
"I just did what the team needed me to do. A lot of my points in the second half were on putbacks, and then once I got going, coach started calling plays for me to keep me going."

On blocked shots
"My first two years, I got into a lot of foul trouble on defense trying to block shots so during the offseason, they started teaching me how to wall up. Once you do that, it kind of keeps the opponent down so you have a chance to block the shot."

On these last home games
"There's a lot on the line right now. We're fighting for a bye, these are the last two games in Hanner Fieldhouse for our seniors and we can have a 20-win season. There's a lot on the line, and we're just trying to have fun with it."

Head coach Mark Byington
Overall
"I thought we played great in every area except the free throws. We guarded well, we rebounded well and our effort was tremendous. I'm really happy with the way the guys are playing in a lot of different areas, and we're starting to play some of our best basketball of the year."

On Senior Day Saturday
"It's the same message we have very game, and that's to go out and win each possession. Lock in on your job and do your job each possession and the score is going to take care of itself. I really hope that we have a great crowd on Saturday. With what's on the line and honoring these seniors, who have done everything the right way since they have been here, I hope Saturday at 5 p.m. this place is full. It would be a great memory for them."

Next up
Georgia Southern hosts Troy Saturday in its home finale in Hanner Fieldhouse. It's Senior Day, and GS will recognize seniors Jake Allsmiller, B.J. Gladden, Mike Hughes, Tione Jones and Coye Simmons before the game. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN3, but Senior Day ceremonies will begin at 4:45 p.m.

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