Terriers go on 34-9 run to end game

Colin Ritsick

Superstition holds a maniacal place in the minds of most sports enthusiasts. Tonight, the commonly-held superstition of 13 being an unlucky number held true for fans of Georgia Southern University.

The Eagles (11-13, 4-5 SoCon) held a 13 point lead in the second half before allowing Wofford College to go on an embarrassing 34-9 run to end the game. This run handed them their thirteenth loss of the season.

GSU eventually lost the game by; you guessed it, 13 points – 74-61. But up until this epic collapse at the end of the game, the Eagles were playing the red-hot Terriers (12-10, 7-3 SoCon) above expectations.

GSU controlled the pace of the game for the entire first half. They went into halftime leading 35-27.

And with just under the magic number of 13 minutes left to play in the second half, GSU was still in control with a 52-40 lead over the Terriers.

That’s when things took a turn for the worse.

The Eagles shot an ice cold 3-14 from the field in the last 12:43 of the game while Wofford found the bottom of the basket almost every possession, shooting 11-15. Junior guard Karl Cochran, a Marietta, Ga. native, accounted for 11 of the Terriers’ final 34 points. He finished with a game-high 29.

GSU had built momentum coming into the game with two consecutive wins over The Citadel and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Had the Eagles won tonight it would have been the first time they won three straight since February of 2012.

One positive thing to take away from tonight is that GSU is continuing to find some scoring balance. Other than the last 13 minutes of the game in which none of the Eagles did really anything on offense; four players finished the game scoring in double digits – something that needs to happen if GSU wants to win consistently.

Junior guard Jelani Hewitt put up his fourth consecutive 20+ point performance with 21. Junior forward Angel Matias, freshman forward Kyle Doyle and junior guard Curtis Diamond finished with 11, 10 and 10, respectively.