Georgia Southern beats South Alabama 84-79 in OT
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Mike Hughes hit a 3-pointer to force overtime and scored six of his 13 points in the extra frame as Georgia Southern beat South Alabama 84-79 on Monday night.
Tookie Brown had 26 points and Ike Smith scored 23 for Georgia Southern (10-6, 3-0 Sun Belt). Smith made five 3-pointers, grabbed 11 rebounds and had six assists - all career highs.
Josh Ajayi's layup gave South Alabama (8-8, 1-2) a 77-75 lead with 2:17 to play but two free throws by Hughes capped a 7-0 run that gave the Eagles a five-point lead with eight seconds remaining. Ken Williams made a layup to pull the Jaguars within three, but Hughes hit two more foul shots to seal it.
Williams' 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in regulation gave South Alabama a 66-62 lead. After Jake Allsmiller hit a 3 on the other end, Williams made two free throws to make it 68-65 before Hughes tied it with six seconds to play.
Williams, who led the Jaguars with 20 points, missed a 3 at the end of regulation. Ajayi added 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
----------
Shabazz, Johnson help App State beat Arkansas State 70-57
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Ronshad Shabazz hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, Isaac Johnson scored 10, including a late 3-point play, and Appalachian State pulled away for a 70-57 win over Arkansas State on Monday night.
Emarius Logan added 12 points for Appalachian State (6-9, 1-3 Sun Belt), which snapped a three-game skid.
Craig Hinton and Shabazz each hit a 3-pointer during an 8-2 run that gave the Mountaineers the lead, 46-41, for good. Arkansas State (11-6, 2-2) pulled within five on a layup by C.J. Foster with 3:40 left but Griffin Kinney made a layup and Johnson's 3-point play made it 61-51 with two minutes to go. Appalachian State made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:36 to seal it.
Jahmiah Simmons had a career-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting for Arkansas State. The Red Wolves made just 19 of 56 (35 percent) from the field and 14 of 25 (56 percent) free throws.
----------
Coastal Carolina holds off Little Rock in 66-63 win
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Jaylen Shaw scored 16 points, Demario Beck added 15 to go with 10 rebounds and Coastal Carolina held off a second-half surge by Little Rock for a 66-63 win on Monday night.
Coastal Carolina (8-9, 3-1 Sun Belt) led by as many as 16 points midway through the second half but had to hold off a Little Rock comeback bid that cut the gap to 62-58 with 3:36 left. Shivaughn Wiggins sank a pair of free throws to stretch the Chanticleers' advantage back to six.
Little Rock's Deondre Burns and Wiggins then traded layups before Burns nailed a 3-pointer to tighten the game back to three. Neither team scored again over the final 91 seconds.
Wiggins finished with 12 points.
Burns had 17 points for Little Rock (11-6, 2-2), which outscored the Chanticleers 36-28 over the final 20 minutes. Marcus Johnson Jr. added 15 and Lis Shoshi had 10 for the Trojans.
----------
Troy escapes 80-77 as Georgia State rims out 3 at buzzer
ATLANTA (AP) Jeremy Hollimon and Juan Davis Jr. scored 16 points apiece and Troy held off Georgia State 80-77 on Monday night.
Wesley Person and Kevin Baker each went 1 for 2 from the free-throw line for Troy in the final 21.2 seconds for three-point leads. Devin Mitchell scored a quick layup with 14.4 seconds to get Georgia State within 79-77 and after Baker missed his second attempt, the Panthers grabbed the rebound and Mitchell had a good look at a 3 but it rolled out at the buzzer.
DeVon Walker scored 15 points, and Jordon Varnado and Baker each added 14 for Troy (9-8, 1-2 Sun Belt). Davis made four of Troy's eight 3-pointers and Walker was 7 of 10 from the field as the Trojans shot 55.1 percent overall.
Jeremy Hollowell hit five 3-pointers and had 19 points and seven rebounds for Georgia State (8-7, 1-2). Mitchell added 15 points.