National Basketball Association
Georgia Southern 68, South Florida 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 15, 2014
Where: USF Sun Dome, Tampa, Florida
Officials:
# Jeff Clark, # Rick Crawford, # Bryan Kersey
Attendance:
2912
By SportsDirect Inc.
Georgia Southern 68, USF 63: Jelani Hewitt scored a season-high 33 points as the visiting Eagles upset the Bulls.
Trent Wiedeman added 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Georgia Southern (5-2), which won for the fifth time in six games after losing its season opener. Angel Matias had seven points and six rebounds and Mike Hughes contributed six points and six boards for the Eagles.
Chris Perry totaled 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for USF (5-4), which has lost three straight games following a 5-1 start. Dinero Mercurius registered a career-best 13 points off the bench for the Bulls, who shot 2-of-20 from 3-point range.
USF played catch-up for nearly all of the first half, relinquishing a 15-14 lead by allowing 10 unanswered points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Hewitt, as Georgia Southern took a 24-15 lead. Corey Allen Jr. drained a 3-pointer to snap that run, Nehemias Morillo followed with a three-point play and the Bulls got another 3-pointer from Allen on their final possession of the half to hit the locker room trailing 32-28.
The Eagles stormed out of the break with 12 unanswered points, including five from Hewitt, to establish a 44-28 advantage 3:25 into the second half. USF responded with a 16-6 run to pull to within 50-44 with 6:46 remaining but after a layup from Perry got the Bulls all the way back to within 63-60 with 1:52 to play, Hewitt answered with a clutch 3-pointer and the comeback attempt was effectively thwarted.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Georgia Southern defeated USF for the first time in five tries. ... Allen, who came into the game averaging 22.3 points in his last four outings, finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, including USF's only two 3-point makes. ... The Eagles got all of their offensive production from their starters, with the reserves combined to shoot 0-for-9 from the field.
Top Game Performances
| Georgia Southern |
|
South Florida |
|
Jelani Hewitt 33 |
Scoring |
Chris Perry 16 |
|
Mike Hughes 4 |
Assists |
Anthony Collins 4 |
|
Trent Wiedeman 7 |
Rebounds |
Chris Perry 12 |
|
Jelani Hewitt 10 |
Free Throws Made |
Nehemias Morillo 7 |
|
Jelani Hewitt 3 |
Steals |
Troy Holston Jr. 3 |
|
Trent Wiedeman 2 |
Blocks |
Chris Perry 4 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Georgia Southern
|
68 |
44.4 |
5-13 |
15-25 |
10 |
27 |
3 |
6 |
15 |
| South Florida
|
63 |
41.8 |
2-20 |
15-20 |
13 |
36 |
9 |
8 |
17 |
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