The Georgia Southern men’s basketball team won 98-79 against Johnson C. Smith on Nov. 14, but the final score didn’t tell the whole story.

After a sluggish first half that saw his team trail by as many as 10 points, Head Coach Charlie Henry was clear: the performance wasn’t good enough.

“I just got to get better executing our defensive plan,” Coach Henry said. “Can’t execute our defensive plan if our energy isn’t through the roof, our effort isn’t through the roof.”

That lack of energy allowed the Golden Bulls to hang with the Eagles, until a “little desperation,” as Henry called it, sparked a run late in the first half to tie the game at 37-37.

In the second half, the Eagles’ offense exploded, outscoring Johnson C. Smith 56-38.

The charge was led by graduate guard Spudd Webb, who scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half. Webb had a dominant all-around game, adding six assists and five steals.

He was joined by redshirt freshman Dwayne Williams Jr., who had a career-high 17 points off the bench.

“Yeah, Wayne was good. He was good,” Henry said of the freshman’s performance. “So good to see him play well, I think that’s going to continue to be a trend for us.”

In total, six Eagles scored in double figures, with the bench contributing 46 points.

Despite the dominant win on paper, Coach Henry saw it as a “good learning lesson” for his team.

“Everything’s going to be hard, and if you expect it to be easy, you’re tricking yourself,” Henry said. “I was… happy we obviously rallied to get the win, but we need to be better.”

When asked what the team will work on to avoid slow starts in the future, Henry was direct: “Defense, rebounding, [and] continuing to fine tune offense.”

The Eagles (3-1) will now prepare for a major road test against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 18.