NEW ORLEANS – Brian Warren scored a game-high 21 points, and UTA held Georgia Southern scoreless for the final five minutes of the contest to post a 67-58 win over the Eagles in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship Saturday evening in Lakefront Arena.

The Mavericks advance to tomorrow's championship game, where they will face Georgia State in a rematch of last season's championship contest.

Eagles of the game
Quan Jackson scored 16 points to lead Georgia Southern and added four rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. David-Lee Jones Jr. tallied 12 points and three assists, and Simeon Carter chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Key moments
Georgia Southern (21-12) charged back from a 12-point second-half deficit and led 58-57 after a Jones Jr. 3-pointer with 5:07 to play. GS forced turnovers on the next two UTA possessions and had chances to add to the cushion but committed turnovers at the other end. 

Andres Ibarguen put UTA (17-15) back in front with a putback after the final media timeout, and neither team could get a basket until David Azore scored his first points of the game on a conventional 3-point play that gave the Mavs a 62-58 cushion with 1:44 remaining. UTA held the Eagles to 0 for 4 from the field and forced a turnover to pull away for the final margin.

The Mavs scored the final four points of the first half in the final minute to build a 30-22 lead at the break and pushed the margin to 52-40 midway through the second half. The Eagles responded with a 14-3 run, with eight points coming from Jones Jr., and his triple gave GS a 55-54 advantage with 5:53 to play.

Inside the numbers
GS committed five turnovers and went 0 for 5 from the field in the final 4:30 of game time. UTA held the Eagles to 3 of 19 from 3-point range for the game, and the Eagles made 8 of 30 from the field in the first half (27 percent).