State Downs Southern 90-85

Saturday, March 9

Statesboro, Ga.

5 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

20-11

Georgia State

22-9

Georgia St.

Ga. Southern

Tookie Brown scored 19 points in his final home game.

3/9/2019 8:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Eagles will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s Sun Belt Tournament.

By: Marc Gignac

Postgame radio interview with Mark Byington

STATESBORO – Kane Williams scored a game-high 23 points, and Georgia State won the Sun Belt men's basketball regular-season championship with a 90-85 victory over Georgia Southern before a sellout crowd Saturday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Panthers clinch the top seed in next week's conference tournament, and the Eagles (20-11, 12-6) finish in a three-way tie for second and will be the No. 3 seed. State also earned a point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, which it now leads 9-4.

Georgia Southern finishes in the top-3 in the Sun Belt standings for the fourth time in its five seasons in the league.

Eagles of the game
Tookie Brown collected 19 points, five assists and five rebounds in his final home game, and Isaiah Crawley tallied his fifth double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Montae Glenn posted his 15th career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in his final home outing.

Key moments
After Brown's layup tied the score 56-56 midway through the second half, Georgia State (22-9, 13-5) scored nine straight points to take control of the contest. Malik Benlevi netted five during the stretch, and Southern went 0 or 4 from the field and committed a turnover at the other end. The Panthers pushed the margin to 11 on a Kane Williams putback dunk with 4:36 remaining.

Georgia Southern trimmed the margin to seven points on a Quan Jackson triple with 1:01 to play, but the Panthers made 8 of 12 free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.

Inside the numbers
The Panthers held the Eagles to 4 of 18 shooting from 3-point range and scored 18 points off of 13 Eagle turnovers. It was State's first win in Hanner Fieldhouse since 1996.

Next up
The Eagles receive a bye into the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans and will play an opponent to be determined Friday, March 15. Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.