STATESBORO, Ga. – Little Rock hung around with Georgia Southern for the opening 30 minutes in Statesboro, but the Eagles high octane offense wore down the Trojans down the stretch, handing Little Rock the 81-66 defeat at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The loss drops the Trojans to 10-18 on the year as Little Rock falls to 5-10 in Sun Belt Conference play. Georgia Southern improves to 19-10 on the year and 11-5 in league play, remaining tied for second in the Sun Belt standings.
Turnovers once again proved to be crucial for the Trojans as Little Rock committed 11 in the first half, helping spark the Eagle runs. Little Rock did shoot effectively from the floor, hitting 50.9 percent of their field goal attempts, but the Trojans made just two of their eight three point attempts.
Little Rock once again was led by
Rayjon Tucker with his game-high 21 points on the night as he reached his 1,000th career point at the Division I level, adding a pair of rebounds while going 7-of-11 from the floor.
Nikola Maric added 18 points with eight rebounds, connecting on eight of his 15 attempts from the floor.
Kris Bankston added nine points in his first start since January, connecting on four of his five field goal attempts and finishing with six rebounds.
Deondre Burns added eight points with five for
Jaizec Lottie, making his first appearance in five games.
But Georgia Southern's balanced attack proved too much as four different players finished in double figures with the Eagles shooting 54.5% and registering 11 steals.
In a game featuring the team's top two shooting teams from the floor, the Trojans and Eagles played at an up-tempo from the opening whistle. Georgia Southern, aided by Little Rock turnovers, was able to push its lead to seven in the early going, building a 17-10 advantage at the 14:22 mark.
Little Rock responded with an 8-0 run of its own, sparked by Tucker hitting all three free throws off a foul, then capped by an and-one attempt from Bankston, giving Little Rock its first lead of the game at 18-17 two minutes later.
The two teams battled back and forth over the next few minutes with the Trojans finding themselves down one at 28-27 with just under seven minutes to go. But Georgia Southern would start to separate itself, using a 13-3 run over the next five and a half minutes to build its largest lead of the game at 41-30, taking a 45-34 lead into halftime.
The momentum for Georgia Southern continued in to the second half with the Eagles knocking down three-straight baskets early to extend their lead to 16 at 52-36 less than three minutes in the half. Little Rock started to chip away at the deficit, using some key baskets from Tucker and Maric to pull to within six at 55-49 with 12:38 to go.
But Georgia Southern benefitted from its physical inside play, extending the lead back to 15 at 66-51 at the midway point of the second stanza. The Trojans got it back down to 10, but the Eagles transition offense wore down the Trojans in the second half, pulling away for the 81-66 victory.
Little Rock's crucial road trip concludes Saturday when the Trojans heat to Atlanta for the final regular season road game of 2018-19. The Panthers remain tied with the Eagles for second in the Sun Belt after handing Arkansas State a 76-60 defeat Thursday evening. Opening tip from the GSU Sports Arena is set for 12 p.m. CT.
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