GEORGIA SOUTHERN 89, PIKEVILLE 68
STATESBORO, GA. --- Senior Donte Gennie (Tallahassee, Fla.) and junior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) combined for 47 points and Georgia Southern broke open a close contest with an 18-2 run to defeat Pikeville 89-68 Tuesday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Gennie finished the evening shooting 9-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-8 from 3-point land for 25 points, one shy of his career high set in the season opener. The seven treys is a new personal best.
Graham tied his career high with 22 points, hitting 10 of his 12 shots from the field. Also tying a career high was junior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.), who dished out 13 assists.
Senior Jimmy Tobias (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) poured in 10 points and grabbed a season-best eight rebounds. In a game of career highs, sophomore Anthony Marshall (Lake Worth, Fla.) tied his with 10 points off the bench.
For Pikeville Bo Harris led all players with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Will Holloman added 17 and Brad Lowe tallied 12.
“We were a lot more aggressive offensively and that’s something we need to continue to do,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “Overall, in all aspects of the game, we need to be more aggressive. Tonight we talked about being more aggressive on the offensive end of the floor. Our team has not been scoring like we’re used to, and looking back at the tape, maybe we’re just not aggressive enough.”
The Eagles (7-6) started hot right out of the gate as Gennie hit the first of his trifectas in the opening seconds and Graham followed with two free throws for a 5-0 advantage.
After a Harris jumper, Graham hit two more shots for a 9-2 lead.
Harris and Holloman kept Pikeville (8-8) in the game, combining for 11 of the team’s first 14 points and a Holloman jumper cut the deficit to two, 16-14.
Georgia Southern began its game-breaking run at the 12:19 mark after a Harris dunk made the score 20-18 in favor of the Eagles. Gennie hit a jumper to commence the barrage and he followed a Tobias dunk with another 3-pointer.
Harris temporarily stopped the bleeding with a bucket, but Gennie resumed the scorefest with a trey and Graham finished it off to put GSU up 38-20.
Gennie had 17 of his points in the opening half and Graham totaled 14 of his in the first 20 minutes. The Eagles shot 64.7 percent from the field in the first period and led at the break 52-34.
“We just shot the ball really well, and when you shoot the ball well, everything’s good,” Price added. “Making shots solves a lot of problems.”
The second half was more of the same and the lead got as high as 32 points. All but one Eagle who got in the game, scored.
“Anything we get off the bench is important and we’re constantly searching for more depth,” Price said. “I think that’s a weakness of our team right now. It was good to see some guys come off the bench and give us a lift offensively.”
With their non-conference schedule behind them, Georgia Southern turns its attention back to Southern Conference play, hosting Furman Saturday at 7:30 p.m.