Nov. 26, 2006

Final Stats

STATESBORO, GA - The Georgia Southern University Eagles showed why they received an invitation to the NIT in 2006 as they jumped out to an 18-2 lead on WSSU and cruised the rest of the way en route to a 70-41 victory at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, GA on Saturday evening in men's basketball action.

Both teams struggled out of the gate, combining for seven turnovers and just eight points in the first 4:24 of play.  But the Eagles turned it on after the first media timeout, scoring 12 straight points.  In the game-opening run, the Eagles had six different players score, including receiving seven points from senior Donte Gennie (Tallahassee, Fla.). 

Georgia Southern held Winston-Salem State without a field goal for a nine-minute stretch as the Rams missed nine consecutive shots and committed five turnovers.  Curtis Hines (Charlotte, NC) finally stopped the run with a trey at the 9:28 mark to make the score 18-5.

Up 24-9 with 4:33 remaining in the half, Georgia Southern scored eight straight points, capped off with two free throws from sophomore Anthony Marshall (Lake Worth, Fla.).  Junior Ryan Hynes (Paso Robles, Calif.) converted an old-fashioned three-point play with just under four minutes left, and then converted a WSSU turnover into a lay-up.

Gennie gave the Eagles a 34-11 advantage with two seconds left, but Roy Peake (Thomasville, NC) fed Jamal Durham (Winston-Salem, NC) with an 80-foot pass to beat the buzzer for a 34-13 halftime score.

GSU shot 48.1 percent (13-27) from the floor in the first half and held WSSU to 5-of-25 shooting (20.0%).  Gennie led all scorers with nine points at the break.

The second half was more of the same as the Eagles put up the first five points on the board, courtesy of a `3' from junior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) and a lay-up by senior Jimmy Tobias (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).

A Tobias jumper put GSU up 30, 54-24, with 11:38 remaining and led by no fewer than 22 the rest of the way.

Gennie finished with a game-high 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point land, and Tobias added 11.  Roy Peake led the Rams with nine points and four assists in the loss.

The loss marks the fourth straight defeat for  the Rams' and marks WSSU's longest losing streak since an eight-game skid that came during the 1996-97 season, a year in which the Rams finished 15-13. 

The Eagles extended their streak of 26 straight home-opening wins and 19 straight non-conference home victories.  The last time GSU lost a home-opener was Nov. 29, 1980, an 88-87 overtime decision to Austin Peay.    

The loss drops the Rams to 1-7 on the season while GSU moves to 2-2 overall with the win.  WSSU returns to action on Monday, November 26, 2006 at 7:00 pm when they travel to Nashville, TN to face Lipscomb.

For additional information on WSSU men's basketball, contact the WSSU Office of Sports Information at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at www.WSSURAMS.com.

- wssurams.com -