STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team fell at Georgia Southern 58-57 on Thursday night at the Hanner Fieldhouse.
 
Javon Franklin scored on a dunk to put the Jags up by one, 57-56, with 47 seconds left and Georgia Southern's Kaden Archie hit a contested layup with 14 seconds remaining to secure the win for the Eagles.
 
Jay Jay Chandler led all scorers with 15 points, Franklin added 13 and Kayo Goncalves chipped in nine to power the Jaguar offense.
 
Gedi Juozapaitis and Cam Bryant both finished with 10 points for Georgia Southern, while three others had nine for the Eagles.
 
Date: 2/3
Place: Hanner Fieldhouse
Final Score: South Alabama 57, Georgia Southern 58
Records: South Alabama 15-7 (5-4), Georgia Southern (11-9) (4-5)
 
GAME FACTS
- Georgia Southern jumped out to an early 21-8 lead over the first 10 minutes.
- South responded with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to single-digits, 25-18, with 4:25 remaining.
- The Eagles scored eight of the next 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers from Bryant and Kamari Brown to extend the lead to 13, 33-20.
- Juozapaitis knocked down a three-pointer at the end of the half to put the Eagles up 38-23 at the break.
- Chandler opened the second half with back-to-back layups to cut the deficit to 11, 38-27.
- Brown's transition dunk extended the Georgia Southern lead to 15, 43-28, with just under 17 minutes left in the game.
- Diante Smith knocked down a three, while Chandler connected on a jumper and hit a layup to cut the lead to single-figures, 46-38, with 12 minutes to go.
- Goncalves hit back-to-back three-pointers and Franklin added a dunk to pull within two, 48-46.
- Georgia Southern answered with a 5-0 run to stretch the lead back to seven, 53-46, with less than seven minutes remaining.
- Franklin scored nine straight points to put the Jags on top by one, 57-56, with 47 seconds to go in the contest.
- Archie hit a contested layup and the Eagles went back in front, 58-57, with 14 seconds left.
- Smith missed a three-pointer with 3 seconds left as Georgia Southern held on for the 58-57 victory.
 
NOTES
- USA falls to 16-10 all-time against the Eagles.
- South forced Georgia Southern to turn the ball over 16 times, the Jags have forced at least 14 turnovers in five straight games.
- South Alabama limited the Eagles to just 20 points in the second half, a season-best effort.
- Chandler has scored at least 10 points in 20 consecutive games and has led the team in scoring in 11 contests this season.
- Franklin has scored in double-figures in nine straight games.
- Goncalves has hit three or more three-pointers in 10 games this season.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Richie Riley
- On the outcome of the game:
"We didn't play well enough to win. The first half was atrocious, we were terrible. We have to be better than that and it is my responsibility. We missed a lot of layups and missed some free throws. We had some costly turnovers and some defensive breakdowns. I've just got to do better with our group. We need to find a way to win some of these on the road. We went through a stretch where we played pretty good on the road but we haven't played good lately. That group late gave us a chance. We were down 15 and they fought all the way back and had a chance there at the end but just couldn't quite finish the job. We just didn't play well enough to win."
 
UP NEXT
- USA will continue on the road to take on Georgia State on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST).
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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