Story courtesy of Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 81, Jacksonville 67
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Elton Nesbitt’s 26 points led Georgia Southern to an 81-67 win over Jacksonville Wednesday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles extended their home winning streak to 15 games, which is the 8th longest in the nation. Nesbitt’s 26 points also put him at 10th all time in scoring in school history, with 1284 career points.
The Eagles (6-4) opened the game with a quick 9-0 run, including two three pointers from Nesbitt. Jacksonville (1-5) answered, however, scoring seven unanswered points, putting them within two with less than 15 minutes to play in the half. A third trey from Nesbitt increased the Eagles’ lead to five, but back to back baskets by Marcus Allen tied the game at 12-12 with 11:45 on the clock. Georgia Southern put together another run, scoring six straight to retake the lead, 18-12. After the two teams traded baskets, the Eagles went on an 8-0 spurt to end the half, taking a 40-29 lead into the locker room.
Allen led all scorers at the break, with 11, while Nesbitt had 10. The Eagles forced 15 Dolphin turnovers in the opening half, five coming in the first three minutes of the game. GSU shot 42.1 percent (16-38) while holding JU to 34.4 percent (11-32).
Jacksonville cut the lead to seven quickly in the second half, but the Eagles answered immediately. Georgia Southern went on a 14-3 run over a five minute stretch to take its largest lead of the night, 56-38, with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Back to back jumpers by Mario Brown cut the Eagle lead to 14, 56-42, with 12:25 to play. Georgia Southern extended its lead back to 17 on free throws by Diogo Salazar and Louis Graham. Jacksonville did not quit, however, putting together a 6-0 run, cutting its deficit to 11 with 8:00 remaining, but could not get any closer, as they Eagles held on for the 81-67 win.
Nesbitt led all scorers with 26 points, including six three pointers. Donte Gennie added 13 points, including four assists, while Sean Olivier tallied 12 points. Allen led the Dolphins with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Aubrey Conerly, Brown, and Antonio Cool also scored in double figures, with 13, 12, and 11 points, respectively.
Georgia Southern shot 44.1 percent (30-68) on the night, while Jacksonville shot 38.5 (25-65). After a game in which the Eagles were nearly perfect from the charity stripe, the team struggled tonight, shooting only 57.1 percent, connecting on 12-of-21 attempts. The Dolphins shot 73.7 percent (14-19) from the free throw line. GSU forced 29 JU turnovers, converting them into 30 points. Jacksonville outrebounded the Eagles 46-40.
Georgia Southern will make its final long-distance road trip of the season this Saturday, traveling to Jonesboro, Arkansas to face Arkansas State. Tip-off from Jonesboro is set for 5:05 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on 106.5 FM and 107.3 FM in Statesboro, with the pre-game show with Georgia Southern play-by-play announcer Ricky Ray and color analyst Frank Kerns beginning at approximately 4:50 p.m. EST.
Story courtesy of College of Charleston sports information
College of Charleston 85, North Florida 63
Charleston, S.C. -- Josh Jackson poured in a career-high 26 points and became part of the first trio in school history to record double-doubles in the same game leading the College of Charleston to an easy 85-63 win over North Florida in men's college basketball action before 1,873 at John Kresse Arena on Wednesday.
Charleston, which won for the 121st consecutive time when scoring at least 84 points, improved to 3-2 on the season, while the Ospreys fell to 3-3.
Jackson, who hit on 10-of-16 from the field and 6-of-9 free throw attempts, also pulled down 10 rebounds. Teammate Jermaine Johnson added 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Philip McCandies had a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points and a game-high five steals.
The Cougars, who built a 47-31 lead at intermission, got a career-high tying seven assists and 13 points from Dontaye Draper, and a season-best 10 points off the bench from David Lawrence.
North Florida got a team-high 20 points from Rashad Williams and 15 points from Alain LaRoche.
For the game, the Cougars shot 49.3 percent from the floor hitting on 34-of-69 attempts. UNF hit 41.4 percent of its shots (24-58). The Cougars had 15 steals and forced 27 turnovers.
The Cougars play at Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday at 7:30.