ARLINGTON, Texas – Quan Jackson scored a career-high 26 points, and Georgia Southern held UTA to 32 percent shooting to get back on track with an 81-61 Sun Belt men's basketball victory over the Mavericks Saturday afternoon in the College Park Center. 

Eagles of the Game
Jackson was 8 of 17 from the floor, 3 of 6 from long distance and 7 of 9 from the charity stripe. Elijah McCadden posted 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Simeon Carter collected 12 points and eight rebounds. Isaiah Crawley matched his career high with 12 rebounds, and four came on the offensive end.

Key Moments 
The Eagles (17-12, 11-7) made seven straight field goals to build an 18-7 cushion early in the contest as five different Eagles scored during the 16-4 run. GS also held UTA to two of its first 12 from the field. After the Mavericks cut the margin to seven, Jackson scored nine, and Carter netted the last four in an 18-7 run that put the Eales ahead 38-20 with two minutes remaining in the half.

Ike Smith scored five of his nine points in a 13-2 Eagle run early in the second half that pushed the margin to 25 points. A 9-0 run by the UTA, capped by a 3-pointer by Jabari Narcis, cut the margin to 62-49 with 6:48 to play, but McCadden and Jackson answered with consecutive triples to stave off that run. 

Another run came as UTA made seven of its next nine shots and pulled to within 68-57 on a Narcis triple with 3:46 remaining. The Mavericks elected to start fouling and got McCadden, who drilled two with 3:33 to go, and the Eagles held UTA to 1 of 5 from the field and forced a turnover the rest of the game. The turnover came on a nifty play as the Mavericks rolled the ball in to save time on the clock, but Calvin Wishart stayed back, sprinted up and dove on the ground to come up with the steal. The Eagles made nine free throws inside the last 3:01 to seal the win.

Key Stats
The Eagles held UTA to 22.6 percent shooting on 7 of 31 from the floor and 2 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half. GS was efficient on offense as well and made 53 percent from the field, including 8 of 16 from long distance.

Next Up
The Eagles cap a three-game road trip at Georgia State Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. One point is on the line in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, which Southern leads 5-4.