Hervey, UTA beat Georgia Southern for 7th straight win
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Kevin Hervey tied a career high with five 3-pointers and had his 11th double-double of the season, Jorge Bilbao scored 16 points with eight boards and UTA used a late run to pull away for an 81-71 win over Georgia Southern on Monday night.
Hervey had a career-high 26 points with 13 rebounds and Erick Neal added 11 points and four assists for UTA (21-6, 11-3 Sun Belt), which won its seventh straight and maintained sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
Ike Smith's jumper for Georgia Southern (17-11, 10-5) made it 65-all with 6:42 to play, but the Eagles committed two turnovers and went 0 for 4 from the field over the next 5:58. Bilbao made a layup and then two free throws before Drew Charles and Hervey hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 75-65 about three minutes later. After Tookie Brown hit three free throws for Georgia Southern with 2:39 to play, Hervey answered with another 3 and the Mavericks held on from there.
Smith led Georgia Southern with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Brown scored 15 and Devonte Brown hit all four of his 3-point shots and added 12 points.
UTA outrebounded the Eagles 42-23 and outscored them 32-16 in the paint.
Georgia Southern has lost 3 of 4 and is tied with Georgia State for third in the Sun Belt.
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Georgia State pulls away from Texas State in 67-51 win
ATLANTA (AP) D'Marcus Simonds scored 18 points, Jeremy Hollowell added 16 more and hot-shooting Georgia State snapped a three-game skid with a 67-51 win over Texas State on Monday night.
Devin Mitchell contributed 14 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Panthers, who pulled away in the second half behind 69.2-percent shooting and finished 27 of 48 (56 percent) from the field overall.
Georgia State (17-10, 10-5 Sun Belt Conference) broke it open in the second half with a 15-3 run capped with back-to-back 3-pointers from Mitchell to make it 51-37 with about 10 minutes to play.
Texas State quickly cut the deficit back to eight with three consecutive buckets but Malik Benlevi dropped in a layup at the other end to spark a 7-0 spurt that stretched the lead to 58-43 and the Panthers led by double figures the rest of the way.
Nijal Pearson led Texas State (15-11, 8-6) with 17 points, Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had 12 and Ojai Black 10.
The Bobcats fell 1 1/2 games behind Georgia State, which is tied with Georgia Southern for third, in the conference standings. The top four teams earn a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
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Varnado has 21 points, 12 boards, Troy beats Appalachian State 76-66
TROY, Ala. (AP) Jordon Varnado scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Troy beat Appalachian State 76-66 on Monday night.
App State made the first basket of the second half to take a 34-33 lead but Troy scored 14 of the next 16 points for an 11-point lead. Juan Davis Jr., Wesley Person and Kevin Baker each hit a 3-pointer during the run and Varnado converted a 3-point play.
The Mountaineers pulled to 52-50 with 11:40 to go but Troy quickly built it to 65-52 and led by at least five points the rest of the way.
Baker added 11 points for Troy (16-12, 8-6 Sun Belt), which has won four straight games. Davis had 10 points and seven rebounds and Alex Hicks also scored 10.
Griffin Kinney led Appalachian State (8-18, 3-12) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kelvin Robinson added 12 points for the Mountaineers, who have lost nine of their last 11.
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Coastal Carolina pulls away in overtime, beats South Alabama
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Elijah Wilson scored 21 points, Demario Beck and Colton Ray-St Cyr each had double-doubles, and Coastal Carolina beat South Alabama 81-77 in overtime on Monday night.
Trhae Mitchell scored for South Alabama with 6.2 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 68-all and Jaylen Shaw was off at the other end. In overtime, the Jaguars got within three points twice in the final 25 seconds but Ray-St Cyr hit two free throws at the 21-second mark and Wilson went 1 of 2 with 4.9 seconds left to push it to a two-possession lead.
Beck had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Ray-St Cyr added 15 points and 16 boards to help the Chanticleers hold a 51-40 advantage on the glass.
Shaw added 10 points with seven assists for Coastal Carolina (14-14, 9-6 Sun Belt), which hit 11 3-pointers - with four apiece from Wilson and Ray-St Cyr.
Ken Williams led South Alabama (13-14, 6-8) with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
South Alabama had a 39-25 lead at halftime after holding the Chanticleers to 33.3 percent shooting.