Eagles beat Kennesaw State Owls, 78-69, to improve to 9-3

  • Eagles traveled to Kennesaw to face the KSU Owls as part of their long road trip.  

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McClain Baxley
December 19, 2017

Following a close loss to CS Bakersfield and a wild and unplanned trip to Dallas and Alabama, the Eagles went back to work Tuesday night as they took on the 2-8 Kennesaw State Owls. Georgia Southern won their third  road game and moved to 9-3 on the year with a 78-69 win over the Owls.

The Eagles started off very strong with junior forward Montae Glenn starting off with 4 easy points and the first of 8 rebounds. It was all GS before senior guard Nick Masterson knocked down a three to start the scoring for the home team.

After several KSU turnovers and some creative offense from GS, the Eagles extended their lead to 13. The run was capitalized with a breakaway junior guard Tookie Brown one handed dunk that silenced the crowd. Then things went south for the visitors who gave up a few unforced turnovers of their own to let the Owls get back into the game.

Both teams went back and forth answering each other’s possessions. GS ended the half on an 8-2 run, finalized by a Coye Simmons slam.

Second Half

Up by 11 at the half, Georgia Southern came out determined to close out this in-state team. After senior guard Jake Allsmiller made an easy three pointer and the Eagles played solid team basketball, their lead extended to 15.

The Owls wouldn’t go away, however, as Masterson made several threes and forced turnovers to make it a 3 point game. Some more back and forth basketball made it a 2 point GS lead. Senior guard Mike Hughes then came alive from behind the arc, at the free throw line, and everywhere else on the court.

A huge 4-point play from Hughes helped Eagle Nation breathe a sigh of relief with 7 minutes in the game. The rest of the game was spent fouling Brown and KSU missing shots.

Brown lead the team in scoring with 29 points. Glenn and Hughes each put up 12 points in the in-state victory. GS concludes their non-conference schedule Friday at East Tennessee State.