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STATESBORO, Ga. – A 10-0 run deep in the second half turned the game around for Georgia Southern, who held on for an 80-74 win over the University of South Alabama men's basketball team Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Eagles win for the third time in four games to improve to 19-6 overall and 12-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars drop to 9-19, 7-10.

Georgia Southern rallied from an eight-point deficit at halftime and outscored South Alabama 48-34 in the second half.

"They made about four or five really tough plays down the stretch that really decided the game," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We played well for 35-plus minutes. They had a free-throw offensive rebound that really hurt us, we turned it over and they hit a '3' in transition that made a big difference, and we forced up a couple of shots that we really didn't need to take at that time. Ultimately, when you're playing a championship-level team—they're top three in our league—you can't afford to make those mental mistakes down the stretch and expect to win on the road."

GS, who started the second half on a 15-8 run to close within one, trailed by one with seven minutes left before scoring 10 unanswered points to go up nine. Angel Matias started the rally with a three-point play at the 6:43 mark, then Jelani Hewitt followed with a 3-pointer after a USA turnover.

Trent Wiedeman hit a jumper on Georgia Southern's next possession for a seven-point lead, and one minute later Curtis Diamond capped it off with a jumper of his own.

The Eagles made all four field-goal attempts in a span of 2:38 and forced two turnovers.

USA got as close as five points on three occasions but GS went 9 of 10 at the foul line—converting nine in a row—in the final 34.1 seconds.

The Eagles got their 48 second-half points on 60.9 percent shooting in the second half.

"We didn't rebound as well as we did in the first half—they got a couple extra rebounds—and they got a couple of run-outs on a turnover and hit a big 3-pointer on a turnover," Graves stated.

USA freshman Abdul Lewis (Newark, N.J.) recorded his second career double-double with 17 points and a personal-best 13 rebounds. He had 10 points in the second half alone and the 17 points tied his previous career high.

"I was really proud of Abdul," Graves said. "He played a tremendous game. He got off to a little bit of a slow start, but after he picked up that second foul, he was much more assertive finishing at the rim. He just has to understand, when his motor runs like that, he can really produce. I was really happy with how he played; he had been struggling, so I'm really proud that he kept grinding, so hopefully that's momentum heading into next week."

Five Jags reached double-digit points. Sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) posted a team-high 18 points on four 3-pointers, freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) had 14 off the bench, and senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) and junior John Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) had 10 points apiece.

"For the most part, I thought we did a really good job offensively, except for that stretch where we turned it over a couple of times and took a couple of costly shots at the wrong time," Graves said. "If you score 74 points it ought to be enough to win the basketball game. We did a good job of getting to the free-throw line, but when you give up 48 points in the second half, and 80 for the game, you can't expect to win on the road."

Georgia Southern also placed five in double-figure scoring, led by Hewitt's 22 points. Mike Hughes tallied 13 points and three others had 11 points each.

The Jaguars used an 18-4 run over a 6 ½ minute span midway through the first half to go up nine points. The Eagles missed eight of their 10 shots and Lewis was one of seven Jags who contributed points.

GS answered USA's 9-0 spurt with one of its own, but the Jaguars ended the half on a 13-5 run to go up 40-32 at the break.

South Alabama hosts Louisiana-Monroe Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: South Alabama fell to 3-1 this season when leading by eight points or more at halftime… USA scored its most points in a loss since a 99-87 defeat at Texas-Arlington on Jan. 3; the Jags had been averaging 52.8 points in their previous six losses… USA scored 40 or more points in the first half for the third time all season and the second time in the last three games; the Jags had won the previous two times… USA opponents are averaging 51.0 points in the last three games after halftime … Johnson is averaging a team-best 16.6 points in his last five games, and is 39-for-48 (81.3%) at the free-throw line during that span after going 7-for-7 tonight… Williams moved up to eighth in USA's single-season history for 3-pointers with 73, which is also the most by any Jaguar sophomore...  Lewis is averaging 9.6 rebounds in his last five outings with four double-digit performances, bringing his season total of games with at least 10 boards to eight… Johnson moved up to second in school history for points by a freshman with 374 and free-throw percentage by a freshman at 79.1 percent… USA had 14 turnovers which led to 21 points; the team is allowing an average of 26.7 points off miscues in the last three games… South Alabama won the rebounding battle 40-32, including 26-15 in the first half.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—