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Georgia Southern’s #5 elevates for a contested layup against the Coastal Carolina defense.
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Gus the Eagle and Georgia Southern fans react to the game from the student section.
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Georgia Southern’s Applewhite (#13) sits on the court as a referee signals the play following a collision involving a Coastal Carolina player.
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Georgia Southern’s #13 Applewhite places his hands on his head in frustration during a tense moment on the court.
Georgia Southern’s 11-game winning streak at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center ended on Saturday. After a tense finish that had fans standing for the entire second half, the Eagles lost to Coastal Carolina 79-75 in overtime.
Tyren Moore was the bright spot for Georgia Southern (13-7, 5-2 SBC), scoring a season-high 34 points. He helped the Eagles build a 10-point halftime lead, but the game shifted immediately after the break.
Head Coach Charlie Henry pinpointed those first few minutes of the second half as the moment the Eagles lost control.
“I thought the start of the second half was really huge,” Henry said on the postgame radio show. “I thought we were pretty flat out the gate and allowed them to come back.”
Coastal Carolina (11-9, 4-4 SBC) erased the lead and forced overtime after a chaotic finish to regulation. In the extra period, the visitors pulled away by making their free throws, while the Eagles struggled to convert at the line.
For Henry, the loss felt like a delayed consequence for a team that has been living on the edge in recent games, including a tight win over Old Dominion earlier in the week.
“You play with fire, you get burned,” Henry said. “We were very fortunate to beat ODU… There’s just a ton of lessons that we gotta learn from and get better at.”
Georgia Southern will try to bounce back this Thursday at home against Arkansas State at 7 p.m.
