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Eagles pull out win late
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    Ike Smith was off the mark on his first four 3-point attempts during Georgia Southern’s game against Texas State Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. But with just over 30 seconds to play in a tie game, Smith had the poise of a guy who hadn’t missed all night.
    Smith rose up from the top of the key and buried a 3 to give the Eagles a lead. On the ensuing Texas State possession, Smith picked the pocket of Ethan Montavio to help secure a 66-62 victory and the Eagles’ third consecutive win.
    “Ike took a couple of shots that were good ones earlier in the game that didn’t go,” GSU coach Mark Byington said. “I love the fact that he had the courage to take the shot in that situation and be comfortable to live with the result.”
    Georgia Southern (10-12, 6-6 Sun Belt) led throughout the first half and into the second, but Texas State (9-11, 3-8) continued to chip away and briefly pulled ahead at the 5:38 mark on a pair of Emani Gant free throws.
    The Eagles quickly regained the lead and held on to a slim margin even as dual technical fouls were called on Coye Simmons and Texas State’s Ojai Black which led to a brief scuffle and a lengthy deliberation process by the officials.
    “There was a lot of emotion in the game,” Byington said. “Negative emotion can drain a team, but I like guys who play with positive emotion. This was a tough and physical game, but we stayed in it.”
    Smith owned the final minute, but Tookie Brown stole the show for the first 39. The Eagles’ sensational freshman connected on his first five shots of the night and led all scorers with 27 points. His final make of the night came on a free throw after Smith’s steal to push the lead to two possessions and seal the victory.
    As Brown racked up the points, the Bobcats were determined to slow him down. Texas State double-teamed Brown as far as 35 feet from the basket, forcing other Eagles to do their part.
    Sophomore guard Mike Hughes scored just four points in the first half, but added 14 more over the final minutes, including a midrange jumper that erased the Bobcats’ only lead of the night.
    “Coach always says to be prepared,” Hughes said. “We all saw Tookie having a great game, but we knew they’d do everything to try and stop him. When he passed me the ball, I had to be ready to make a shot.”
    In the end, the difference came down to the Eagles’ top players coming through where the Bobcats fell short. Gant (14 points) and Cameron Naylor (10) each missed layups in the final two minutes that could have cut the Texas State deficit to a single point. Montavio led the Bobcats with 16 points, but missed his final two shots of the night and committed the crucial turnover following Smith’s 3-pointer.
    With the win, the Eagles now find themselves right in the thick of the Sun Belt standings and are one of the conference’s hottest teams entering the final month of play.
    “You want to be playing your best basketball in February and on into March,” Byington said. “We’re a young team. That means we face a lot of issues, but it also means that we have a lot of room to grow. This team can be two or three steps better than we are right now and that’s what we want to see coming down the stretch.”
    The Eagles are now on their first three-game winning streak of the season. If they want to keep the good times rolling, they’ll have to do it on the road. Georgia Southern visits Troy Thursday night before heading to Mobile to take on South Alabama Saturday afternoon.