PENSACOLA, Fla. —  Marshall Kearing set new Jaguar career highs in points, rebounds, and blocks, but it was not enough as the South Alabama Men's Basketball team fell in a 76-71 battle with Georgia Southern Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament. 

Kearing had a breakout performance, recording a double-double with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks, and two steals. Tyrell Jones fueled the Jaguars' offense, scoring 22 points on 15-of-16 shooting from the free-throw line with four steals, and three rebounds. Marcus Millender logged 14 points with four rebounds and three steals. 

The Jags struggled throughout the night offensively, shooting 32.8 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from behind the arc, while the Eagles shot 47.5 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from downtown. 

Georgia Southern led throughout the victory, controlling the glass 49-32 and building double-digit leads in both halves. The Jaguars forced 21 Eagle turnovers and only committed eight turnovers in the loss. 

Game Facts (How it Happened) 

• South Alabama opened the game slow as Georgia Southern jumped out to an 11-5 lead at the 14:57 mark. 
• After a Samuel Tabe layup, the Eagles bolted out on another 9-2 run, extending their lead to 20-7 with 10:28 left in the first half. 
• Georgia Southern stayed consistent and held a 26-15 with 6:29 on the clock in the first half. 
• The Jaguars started to show life as Millender knocked down a triple, and Jones rattled in a jumper and a corner triple to trim the deficit to 28-23 with 4:26 remaining in the half. 
• Following an Eagle three-pointer, Jones sunk a pair of free throws, and Kearing splashed two triples in a row to pull back within two points, 33-31, with two minutes left before the break. 
• Georgia Southern held a 37-34 lead heading into the halftime break. 
• The Eagles pushed their lead back out to 48-41 with 15:00 left in the second half.  
• Millender and Tabe both hit knocked-down free throws in the next two possessions. Millender would also record a steal and score to make the score 51-46 with 12:26 on the clock. 
• Georgia Southern picked up more steam and rocketed back out on a 12-4 spurt to retake a 63-50 lead at the 8:18 on the clock. 
• South caught fire and launched on a 13-4 spurt off of seven quick points from Kearing and a big-time And-one bucket from Millender to get the Jags back in the game and trim the lead to 67-63 with 2:12 left in the contest. 
• After a jumper from Georgia Southern on the next possession, Jones came crashing back down the court and hit a layup in traffic to make it a two-point game with 1:11 on the clock.
• With under 30 seconds remaining, Georgia Southern hit a three-pointer to give the Eagles a five-point lead. The Jags would fight until the end but could not overcome the deficit, falling 76-71. 

Notes

• Kearing set a new Jaguar career-high with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks. 
• Tyrell Jones, Marshall Kearing, Samuel Tabe, Judah Brown, and Isiah Gaiter played in their last game in a South Alabama uniform. 
• South tied its team season-high in steals, swiping ten total steals. 
• Jones logged his fifth 20-point game of the season. 
• Jones finishes his colligate career with 105 total steals. 
• The Jaguars forced 21 Georgia Southern turnovers. 

Head Coach Richie Riley

On the season-ending loss 

" It's a different feeling this time around. Last year we were in this room multiple times and when I look around it brings back memories. But that's what a one-bid league is. One team is going to leave here happy the rest are going home. We just happened to not play well today and got sent home in the second round. I hate it for our kids, but this year has been rough and we fought and came out of here with 16 wins. We had a lot of deficiencies. We had some injuries early and that hurt us, but our kids never quit. We have great kids in our program that are all really good human beings. They fought and gave everything that they had. It's disappointing when you go home after your first game down here, but they turned a year that could've been bad into a year that had some great moments. 

On the flat start

" I didn't think we would come out flat. I felt like we didn't have pop the entire game, and they helped us with how they turned the ball over. That gave us some momentum. We didn't take advantage of nearly enough of those turnovers. If we had we probably could have won the game. We've had a couple of times this year. We came out flat for no rhyme or reason and it usually has bit us when we've done that. We didn't win very many of those games when we've gotten off to a slow start. It's also tough to win those games when you get off to a slow start for 13 minutes. Our energy level and urgency were abysmal for 13 minutes to the start the game. It's on me for not getting us there." 

Guard Tyrell Jones 

On shooting 15-of-16 performance from the free throw line

" It was pretty much me being aggressive and trying to make something happen for my team." 

Forward Marshall Kearing

On his breakout performance in his last game

" I'm proud of myself for going out as aggressive as I did. I did my best to bring the energy needed for this situation." 

FOLLOW THE JAGS

For complete coverage of South Alabama men's basketball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaMBB (Twitter), /SouthAlabamaMBB (Facebook), @southalabamambb (Instagram), or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at usajaguars.com.