Nov. 16, 2007
Contact: Brian McCann
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Georgia Southern scored the final 11 points of the game, including an alley-oop layup by Matt Fields with one second left as the Eagles came from behind for a 72-70 victory in a second round game of the Glenn Wilkes Classic.
The loss drops Cleveland State to 1-2 overall while Georgia Southern improves to 1-1.
With Cedric Jackson and J'Nathan Bullock leading the offensive charge, the Vikings had the game seemingly in control. CSU, which led for all but one second of the second half, took a 70-61 lead with 2:27 left on a pair of free throws by Jackson.
The Vikings would not score the rest of the way as CSU missed all three of its field goal attempts and turned the ball over twice in its final five possessions.
Jackson finished with a career-high 21 points, his second straight 20-point game, and nine assists while Bullock added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Louis Graham came off the bench to lead Georgia Southern with 18 points with Marshall adding 13, Willie Powers 12 and Julian Allen 10.
"Georgia Southern did not beat us today, we beat ourselves," head coach Gary Waters said. "You can expect that to happen some times with a young team that hasn't played much together, but that doesn't make this any easier to take.
"We made some bad decisions and poor choices down the stretch and allowed Georgia Southern back into the game. They (GSU) deserve a lot of credit for sticking together and playing hard as a team."
The Eagle's proved very efficient in their comeback.
After Graham cut the lead to eight (70-62) by making one of two free throws, Marshall intercepted a Viking pass on the wing. He took the ball the length of the court and was fouled making a lay-up, making the free throw to pull GSU to within 70-65 with 1:15 left.
After CSU broke the press on the ensuing possession, Breyohn Watson alley-oop pass to Bullock was intercepted by Graham, who started a fast break that resulted in a Marshall three-pointer that cut the Viking lead to 70-68 with 1:03 left.
CSU was patient offensively on its next possession, but Bullock had his driving lay-up blocked by Graham, who tied the game on a basket inside with 30 seconds left.
The Vikings had a chance to regain the lead, but Jackson's couldn't convert on a drive to the basket and GSU cleared the rebound. After a timeout with :06 left, the Eagles in-bounded to Graham at mid-court, who quickly kicked it over the a streaking Foreman. Foreman took several dribbles before launching a pass at the basket which Marshall caught and banked in just before the buzzer.
"We gambled on that last play instead of playing it safe and it cost us," Waters said. "Our defender stepped up to double on the catch of the inbounds pass and that freed up (Dwyane) Foreman to drive in and make that pass."
The loss spoiled another brilliant performance from Jackson, who set his career scoring high for the third straight game. He was five-for-11 from the field, including two-for-three from three-point, and nine-for-12 from the line with a career-high nine rebounds, five rebounds and four steals.
"Cedric is one of our leaders," Waters said. "I am happy with how he has taken charge when he is on the court. He is very difficult to stop offensively."
The game started out with a fast pace as the lead changed hands five times in the first 11 minutes. Georgia Southern held leads of 2-0 (19:00), 7-6 (16:44) and 23-22 (9:04) in the first half. CSU grabbed a 24-23 lead on a Bullock lay-up with 7:46 left.
The Vikings led 40-34 at the half and then used an 8-2 run to start the second half to open its largest lead of the game, 48-36 with 17:24 left.
Cleveland State continues play in the Glenn Wilkes Classic on Saturday when the Vikings play Florida State beginning at 6:00 p.m.
