STATESBORO — The Georgia Southern men’s basketball team defeated ULM, 67-56, in the first home game of 2020.

Fresh off the road where the team played three games in the span of five days, the game started off slow with a slew of missed three-pointers before sophomore guard Elijah McCadden brought the offense to life after the first four minutes were scoreless.

“We wanted to learn from the two losses we just had,” he said. “We got the same shots throughout the whole game, we just didn’t make them the first four or five minutes.”

In the first half, GS shot for 43 percent and 33 percent from the three. Some halftime adjustments were made for the Eagles, as the defense held the WarHawks to just 19 points in the second half.

The team was led by senior forward Isaiah Crawley, who tallied 17 points and seven rebounds, but two other Eagles scored in double digits as well. McCadden added 13 points and redshirt-junior guard Quan Jackson contributed 11 points.

“He has great poise to catch the ball and be calm,” Head Coach Mark Byington said about Crawley. “Whether it’s passing, dribbling or hitting the shot…he’s very good.”

GS held the lead for the entire game, except for the first few minutes, but had trouble from the three point line and shot just around 28 percent for the entire game, not far from the season average of 33 percent.  

“It’s a long season and there’s a lot left for us to improve on,” McCadden said. “It’s just basketball and you’re not gonna make every shot every night. Everybody goes through a little slump…it won’t really last.”

With this victory, GS improves to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The team hopes to remain undefeated at home on Saturday when they play Louisiana, another conference opponent. 

Amanda Arnold, The George-Anne Managing Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu