A quick look at the Georgia Southern box score from Saturday night and you may have thought the Eagles notched their first win of the 23-24 campaign. A further look would show you a key stat that proved costly as Jacksonville University came up with 15 offensive rebounds, and shot about as well as the Eagles as they were able to get key baskets down the stretch and won 81-79 Saturday at Hanner Fieldhouse.
With 37 seconds left Georgia Southern senior guard Tyren Moore capped a 30-point performance with a three pointer to give the Eagles a three-point lead as the crowd at Hanner Fieldhouse erupted. Jacksonville University then quickly quieted the crowd with a three of their own by Robert McCrary tying the game with 26 seconds left.
It looked like the game would be heading to overtime at the very least, but Eren Banks turned the ball over and that would lead to an alley-oop to McCrary for an 81-79 lead with eight seconds left. The Eagles managed to get a good look at a three-pointer by Eugene Brown, but it hit off the back of the rim as the long season continued for the Eagles who fell to 0-8.
“We just have to find a way to do better defensively,” said coach Charlie Henry. “We shot the ball well and did a good job not turning the ball over too much. When you do what we did offensively we should walk out of here with a win. I feel like Jacksonville is a good team, but I feel like we should be walking out of here with a win.”
The Eagles got themselves into an early hole as Jacksonville went up 12-3 to start the game, before the Eagles came back to cut the lead to 14-13 as they went on a 10-2 run. The two teams went back-and-forth the rest of the half with the Eagles leading by as many as five points. The Dolphins came back to take the lead with a three at the buzzer by Bryce Workman to grab a 40-39 lead at the half.
Jacksonville led by as many as 10 points in the second half and led 68-61 with just over five minutes to play before Georgia Southern went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 68-68 on a Moore jumper with just over three minutes to play.
Lost in the defeat was a career high 30 points from Moore who was 5-8 from behind the arc. Jamar Franklin was a perfect 4-4 from the three-point line helping the Eagles to 56.5 percent from deep. They also shot 51.9 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line. The one area the Eagles struggled was rebounding where Jacksonville had a 36-23 advantage.
“It was good to see Tyren come on like he did tonight,” Henry said. “For us to be the team we need to be we need him playing well. We have to do a better job on the boards. They had 15 offensive rebounds which means they rebounded about half their missed shots. We just have to get better there.”
Next up for Georgia Southern they are at North Florida next Saturday Dec. 9 for a 2:00 start.
