STATESBORO – With 6.7 seconds left,
Nakavieon White batted a tipped pass to
Bradley Douglas in the corner who drove for a score and made the difference in a wild 93-91 overtime victory for Georgia Southern men's basketball (6-4) over North Florida (6-4), christening the Jack & Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center with a win.
"You never know how the ebb and flow of the game is going to go, and when UNF made that run, it was good to see our guys respond," Bice-Peace head men's basketball coach
Charlie Henry said. "That overtime sequence where Nakavieon batted the ball to Brad and he converted was a big part of that response."
GS started strong in the game, with
Tyson Brown recording the first men's basket in the history of the arena on a layup, and furthering the lead to 6-0 on a free throw.
North Florida struggled from three early on and recorded just 12 points by the under-eight media.
Nate Brafford found
Eren Banks for an easy layup and pushed the Eagle lead to 26-12 at 7:23.
The Ospreys made it closer over the ensuing eight minutes, cutting the deficit to as little as five.
Avantae Parker had a dunk and a block at the end of the first half to keep it at five, 36-31 heading into the locker room.
The Eagles held the Ospreys to less than 25 percent from three in the opening frame, cashing 4-11 from beyond the arc.
Leading by seven still with over ten minutes remaining, the Eagles blitzed their foes to the tune of a 10-0 run over the next two minutes featuring a
Dontae Horne corner three.
Immediately after, the visitors flipped the script. An 18-2 run by UNF gave the Eagles little breathing room, and after a White layup to make it 80-77, the Ospreys tied it up with a three on the other end.
With six seconds remaining in regulation, UNF's Jasai Miles, who scored 30 points in the contest, gave the Ospreys a one-point lead, but White scrambled down the floor and drew a foul with 0.7 seconds on the clock.
He sunk the first free throw, and after a timeout, clanged what could have been the game-winner off the rim, sending the first game at The Hill to overtime tied at 83.
Douglas took over late in the overtime period. Trailing by four, an absolutely crucial steal - one of three on the night - pushed him to the rim, fighting for a layup and drawing a foul, cutting the deficit back to one.
After White failed to convert on an and-one, Parker grabbed a rebound off a missed Ospreys three and the aforementioned sequence occurred - White batted a pop-up to Douglas, who drove for the score and the 93-91 lead with 6.7 seconds left.
"He was trying to get it to me on the jump pass before, but he tipped it to me in the air," Douglas said. "They were telling us to drive from the corner all game, and I saw that lane from the corner and took it, it was wide open. We had a great crowd and it felt good to get our first win at The Hill."
After the Ospreys' buzzer-beater opportunity went long, Douglas grabbed the rebound and sealed a memorable 93-91 overtime win in The Hill opener, the team's first overtime victory since Feb. 25, 2022, against ULM.
The Eagles had five double-digit scorers for the second time this season, and Douglas (21) and White (20) became the first Eagles teammates to record 20 in the same game since Carlos Curry and Kamari Brown did so against Oglethorpe on Nov. 26, 2022.
Banks (15), T. Brown (12) and Brafford (10) all reached double figures. White neared a triple-double by adding a career-high 10 boards and six assists - the first Eagle to record 20, 10 and 6 since Eric Ferguson against Brewton-Parker on Dec. 11, 2010, and the 15th such stat line by any college basketball player this season.
T. Brown and Parker had seven boards in a season-high total of 50 for the Eagles - their first time reaching 50 rebounds in a game since Dec. 7, 2022 against Piedmont and first against a Division I opponent since Feb. 18, 2016 against Arkansas State.
The Eagles will be back in action in a tough road contest against Louisiana Tech on Dec. 14.
