A hard-fought win over one of the best teams in the Southern Conference put an exclamation point on Georgia Southern’s regular season and may be a crucial confidence boost for Eagles as they head into the league tournament next week.
Georgia Southern was 14-for-30 from the field in the second half and outscored Bobby Cremins’ Cougars, 38-26, in the final period to secure a 74-65 victory Saturday at Hanner Fieldhouse. It was Georgia Southern’s (14-15, 7-11) third win in a row and fourth in five games.
“Momentum-wise, we needed this going into the tournament,” said Eagle forward Louis Graham, who finished with a game-high 19 points and scored his 1,000th career point. “You want to peak going into the tournament, and I think right now we are peaking. Teams like us are the ones you don’t want to see in the tournament because you never know what team is going to show up. Tonight Georgia Southern showed up, and we showed that we can play anybody in the league if we play with Georgia Southern basketball.”
For the second straight home game, the Eagles used a thunderous start to the second half to take control. Georgia Southern trailed 39-36 at the break and opened the final period with a furry, unleashing eight straight points during an 11-2 run that put the Eagles up 47-41 with 16:14 remaining. Charleston turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the second half, and the Eagles led for the final 18:21.
The loudest cheers of the night erupted when Dwayne Foreman hit a 3 from the left wing to put the Eagles up by five with less than two minutes to go.
“We kept talking about how important the beginning of second halves were because we haven’t been good at that this year,” Eagle coach Jeff Price said. “I thought the beginning of the second half was tremendous.
“I’ve said for the last few days that we’d really find out where we were after this game against an awfully good team. I thought we showed a lot of character down the stretch and played really well. Our guys did a great job of answering when we had to win the game.”
Four Eagles joined Graham in double figures led by Matt Fields (14 points, eight rebounds) and Foreman (12 points, six assists). Diogo Salazar finished with a career-high 11 points and Donte Gennie added 10.
The Eagles will finish as the league’s seventh or eighth seed, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s Chattanooga/UNC Greensboro game. GSU will open tournament play Wednesday. Charleston had the No. 3 seed locked up prior to Saturday.
Southern dominated the second half, but Cremins saw hope when Marcus Hammond’s 3 pulled the Cougars with one at 59-58 with 5:42 to go
“I thought that’s when we had a chance,” Cremins said. “We stopped them, and then we came down and missed on our next possession. It was a hell of a game for a while, and when we had that little chance, we just couldn’t get in there.
“I thought if we’d had taken the lead at that juncture, then this team knows how to win. We just couldn’t get the lead.
“(GSU) is a good basketball team. This team could be in the mix — it’s a real tough league. They played well, and they deserved to win today.”
Charleston owned a 15-5 lead by the 14:26 mark of the first half before Georgia Southern reeled off 12 unanswered points, the beginning of an 18-4 run that ended with GSU ahead 23-19 less than 10 minutes before the half.
The Cougars eventually regained their touch, hitting four consecutive 3s to push their advantage to 31-26.
“Georgia Southern played really well,” Cremins said. “I can see why they are so tough here. I thought in the second half we hung in there.”
The Eagles held Charleston’s star, guard Dontaye Draper, to nine points on 3 of 12 shooting, while picking up much-needed help from Salazar and Fields.
“We got really good play off the bench from Matt, and I can’t say enough about Diogo,” Price said.
“I thought Diogo was a huge factor in the game. He made some really timely baskets inside.”
Said Graham: “We share the ball and looked like a team. If we do that, we can be pretty hard to stop.”
Eagles honor seniors
Georgia Southern honored four seniors prior to the game Saturday.
They were guards Gennie and Jimmy Tobias, forward Salazar and manager Brian Kelly.
Georgia Southern was 14-for-30 from the field in the second half and outscored Bobby Cremins’ Cougars, 38-26, in the final period to secure a 74-65 victory Saturday at Hanner Fieldhouse. It was Georgia Southern’s (14-15, 7-11) third win in a row and fourth in five games.
“Momentum-wise, we needed this going into the tournament,” said Eagle forward Louis Graham, who finished with a game-high 19 points and scored his 1,000th career point. “You want to peak going into the tournament, and I think right now we are peaking. Teams like us are the ones you don’t want to see in the tournament because you never know what team is going to show up. Tonight Georgia Southern showed up, and we showed that we can play anybody in the league if we play with Georgia Southern basketball.”
For the second straight home game, the Eagles used a thunderous start to the second half to take control. Georgia Southern trailed 39-36 at the break and opened the final period with a furry, unleashing eight straight points during an 11-2 run that put the Eagles up 47-41 with 16:14 remaining. Charleston turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the second half, and the Eagles led for the final 18:21.
The loudest cheers of the night erupted when Dwayne Foreman hit a 3 from the left wing to put the Eagles up by five with less than two minutes to go.
“We kept talking about how important the beginning of second halves were because we haven’t been good at that this year,” Eagle coach Jeff Price said. “I thought the beginning of the second half was tremendous.
“I’ve said for the last few days that we’d really find out where we were after this game against an awfully good team. I thought we showed a lot of character down the stretch and played really well. Our guys did a great job of answering when we had to win the game.”
Four Eagles joined Graham in double figures led by Matt Fields (14 points, eight rebounds) and Foreman (12 points, six assists). Diogo Salazar finished with a career-high 11 points and Donte Gennie added 10.
The Eagles will finish as the league’s seventh or eighth seed, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s Chattanooga/UNC Greensboro game. GSU will open tournament play Wednesday. Charleston had the No. 3 seed locked up prior to Saturday.
Southern dominated the second half, but Cremins saw hope when Marcus Hammond’s 3 pulled the Cougars with one at 59-58 with 5:42 to go
“I thought that’s when we had a chance,” Cremins said. “We stopped them, and then we came down and missed on our next possession. It was a hell of a game for a while, and when we had that little chance, we just couldn’t get in there.
“I thought if we’d had taken the lead at that juncture, then this team knows how to win. We just couldn’t get the lead.
“(GSU) is a good basketball team. This team could be in the mix — it’s a real tough league. They played well, and they deserved to win today.”
Charleston owned a 15-5 lead by the 14:26 mark of the first half before Georgia Southern reeled off 12 unanswered points, the beginning of an 18-4 run that ended with GSU ahead 23-19 less than 10 minutes before the half.
The Cougars eventually regained their touch, hitting four consecutive 3s to push their advantage to 31-26.
“Georgia Southern played really well,” Cremins said. “I can see why they are so tough here. I thought in the second half we hung in there.”
The Eagles held Charleston’s star, guard Dontaye Draper, to nine points on 3 of 12 shooting, while picking up much-needed help from Salazar and Fields.
“We got really good play off the bench from Matt, and I can’t say enough about Diogo,” Price said.
“I thought Diogo was a huge factor in the game. He made some really timely baskets inside.”
Said Graham: “We share the ball and looked like a team. If we do that, we can be pretty hard to stop.”
Eagles honor seniors
Georgia Southern honored four seniors prior to the game Saturday.
They were guards Gennie and Jimmy Tobias, forward Salazar and manager Brian Kelly.
