Douglas Drops 31, Men’s Basketball Overcomes Halftime Deficit in Win Over Gardner-Webb

Tuesday, December 17

Statesboro, GA

7:00 p.m.

Georgia Southern University

7-5,0-0Sun Belt

Gardner-Webb

4-8,0-0Big South

Gardner-Webb

Ga. Southern

Photo by: Carly Kennedy / Georgia Southern Athletics

Douglas Drops 31, Men’s Basketball Overcomes Halftime Deficit in Win Over Gardner-Webb

12/17/2024 10:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Eagles snap a 27-game skid when down by ten and a 44-game skid when down at half in victory

STATESBORO – Trailing by ten at halftime, Georgia Southern men's basketball (7-5) used a 55-point second half to snap a 27-game skid when down by ten and a 44-game skid when down at half, beating Gardner-Webb (4-8) on Tuesday.

"We've talked the last few days about playing 40 minutes, but with the situation we created, we needed to have a great 20 minutes, a great second half to win the game," Bice-Peace head men's basketball coach Charlie Henry said. "Nothing we could do about the first half in that scenario. We just had to rally and find a way. I told our guys that it was going to be a basketball character test, and they responded."

A Nate Brafford three-ball got the Eagles started early, but the Runnin' Bulldogs went on a small run to gain a six-point advantage at the first media timeout. Eren Banks' three at 11:13 flipped the game back on its head with the Eagles leading 20-13.

The Eagles struggled to shoot for the remainder of the half and Gardner-Webb took advantage - pushing its lead to as much as 12 with under a minute left.

Overall, the team shot just 10-40 from the field in the first frame and fell behind 41-31 at the break - its largest halftime deficit of the season.

After GWU extended the lead to 13 coming out of the locker room, the Eagles spent the next seven minutes chipping away - trailing by just four after a Bradley Douglas layup at 12:57 and forcing a timeout.

GS went back in front for the first time after Eugene Brown III and Douglas both hit three-pointers, leading 55-52 at 12:05.

The visitors pushed the lead back to nine, but GS didn't break down, going in front another time after a wild sequence down six - Brown III hit a three-pointer, Banks stripped a Bulldogs player of the ball and kicked a pass out to Douglas, who tied the game at 70 with just over five minutes remaining.

"I was 0-4 to that point, so in my head, I thinking about just making the next shot," Brown III said. "Just make the next one. I wasn't worried about score, timing, or any of that. I was just worried about making the shot for my team."

The Bulldogs went back up by one at 4:32, but it was their final lead of the game. A Douglas lay-up off his rebound and a pretty pass from Nakavieon White to Collin Kuhl for a lay-in made it a three-point game.

GWU made it a one-point deficit, but that was as close as they got to overtaking the lead as the Eagles iced it with free throws, winning 86-81 and improving to 5-0 at home.

Douglas had a sensational effort on his birthday, scoring a career-high 31, going 11-12 from the line and tying a career-best with eight rebounds, becoming the first Eagle with a 30-point effort this season and first to have 20+ in three straight games since Tyren Moore did it last season.

White (20) joined him with a 20-point effort with a career-best seven assists, the second game in the last three that the Eagles have had two over 20. Brown III added ten to round out the double-digit scorers in the win.

The Eagles snapped a 27-game losing streak when trailing by 10+ points (Jan. 12, 2023 at App State) and a 44-game losing streak when trailing at halftime (Feb. 27, 2021 vs. App State) in the win and improved to 7-5 on the season.

GS kicks off Sun Belt conference play in San Marcos on Saturday against Texas State.