PENSACOLA, Fla.– The fifth double-double of the season for Tyson Brown and a +9 rebound margin ensured Georgia Southern men's basketball (17-15, 8-10 Sun Belt) would live to fight another day as the team took down Southern Miss (11-22, 5-13) by a score of 78-64 in Pensacola on Wednesday.

"They've given us issues in the past, we lost at their place this season, and they're a difficult matchup because they throw a lot of different things at you," Bice-Peace head coach Charlie Henry said. "I thought we weathered the storm a little bit and dealt with the nerves of playing in the first tournament game. While I didn't think the offense was as clean as it could be, and we struggled from three, we dominated them in the paint tonight, and that was a huge point of emphasis for us."

Square at seven with 14 minutes remaining, the Eagles used their first big run of the day to pull in front for good. Nakavieon White and Banks were front and center during an 8-0 spread to lead 17-9.

The Eagles continued to bully their way in front in the paint for the remainder of the half. Brown kept the lead at eight with a layup at 8:11, and a steal and slam by Bradley Douglas brought it back.

Southern Miss cut it to 25-20 with a three at 3:45, immediately responded to on the other end by Eugene Brown III. With 43 seconds left, Douglas knocked down a three-ball and set a nine-point advantage for the Eagles at the break.

GS kept the foot on the gas coming out of the locker room. Braylhan Thomas stole the ball, found Banks who lobbed it to Brown to make it 36-24 on the first sequence, the first double-digit lead for the Eagles of the night.

Another layup by Brown extended the lead to 19 and forced a timeout for the Golden Eagles, who continued to lead by over ten for the remainder of the game.

With 6:31 left, Banks fought for a tough layup and found the Eagles' largest lead of the night, which was 20. Another lob to Brown, this time from Thomas, continued the strong second half for the team.

The Eagles never relented over the final five minutes, emerging with a 78-64 win in Pensacola, the team's largest margin of victory since the tournament moved to this site and largest since their 81-62 quarterfinal win over Georgia State in 2020.

Banks' 16 led the way, and Brown scored 14 and tied a GS SBC Tournament record with 12 rebounds to get the double-double. He went 7-10 from the field and moves three field goals made away from qualifying for the single-season FG% record.

"Coach had a big emphasis on getting to the rim tonight, and my teammates found me," Brown said. "I trust my teammates to get me the ball in those areas and get to the cup."

White (14), Douglas (14) and Adante' Holiman (11) rounded out the double-digit scorers, the third time this season the Eagles have done that and first time in the SBC Tournament. White swatted two blocks and Holiman added five assists to his ledger.

The Eagles out-rebounded Southern Miss 40-31 in the win and have earned a matchup with rival Georgia State on Thursday at 6:00 eastern.