Postgame radio interview with
Mark Byington
STATESBORO – Trhae Mitchell tallied 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals, and South Alabama held Georgia Southern to 3 of 12 from the floor in the last seven minutes of the game to earn a 79-69 Sun Belt Men's Basketball victory over the Eagles Saturday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Eagles of the Game
Ike Smith collected his fifth career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the senior added three steals and two blocked shots.
Quan Jackson finished with 23 points, and
Elijah McCadden led the team with a game-high six assists.
Isaiah Crawley collected a game-high 12 rebounds and scored six.
Key moments
The Eagles (13-10, 7-5), who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, tied the scored on a McCadden dunk with 7:35 to go but missed three shots and had a turnover on their next four possessions. That enabled South Alabama (13-11, 6-7) to rattle off 10 straight points, and a conventional 3-point play by Chad Lott gave the Jags a 70-60 cushion with five minutes left.
Jackson made a jumper and Smith hit a 3-pointer to cut the margin to five, and the Eagles forced a turnover to get the ball back. Wishart's 3-point try was off the mark, and GS turned it over before Andre Fox canned a triple to push the margin back to eight with 2:16 remaining. After Jackson made a pair of free throws, the Eagles went on to miss five shots and commit a turnover on their next six possessions.
After a Mitchell triple gave South Alabama a 35-22 lead late in the first half, Georgia Southern made five 3-pointers on eight possessions to end the half on a 19-7 run, and the teams went into the break tied 41-41. Jackson had three 3-pointers and scored 11 points, while Smith made two from long distance.
Key stats
GS shot 10 of 32 from the field, 4 of 18 from 3-point range and committed 11 turnovers in the second half.
Next up
The Eagles play five of their next seven on the road, starting with a trip to The Pelican State. GS takes on ULM Thursday and Louisiana Saturday, and both games tip off at 8 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+.
