Trailing 80-79 with 36 seconds left, and for 28:57 of the game, Eugene Brown III got a friendly bounce on a lay-in to take a lead as Georgia Southern men's basketball (12-12, 5-7 SBC) got key stops after that to take down Louisiana (7-17, 5-7) in an 83-82 nailbiter on Wednesday.
"We had to buckle down and get some stops, I thought we finally did that the last eight minutes," Bice-Peace head coach Charlie Henry said. "I thought our offense was pretty good most of the night, we just didn't get enough stops to separate. It was good to get a win, and we made plays when the game was on the line."
Despite scoring the first bucket, the Eagles trailed early on and for much of the first half, grabbing a slim one-point lead after Collin Kuhl's lay-in at 13:33. The Eagles went on a 13-2 run to hold a slim lead at the under-12 aided by a pair of Brown III three-pointers.
The lead only stretched to four before the Cajuns took the lead back.
Adante' Holiman sunk a deep three to push the lead back to 29-27, but the Cajuns went on a hot streak following the bucket.
Louisiana went five of its last seven from the field, clinging to a three-point lead after Bradley Douglasconverted an and-one before the break. UL was an unconscious 7-12 from three and 6-6 from the line at the half, but the Eagles remained at arm's length.
The Cajuns continued on the attack midway through the first. The team had a lead as big as eight with 15:06 left, which began to dissipate in the ensuing minutes. Nate Brafford stole a bad pass and Holiman nailed a three at 9:50 to get back to within one.
While the visitors remained in front, the Eagles found the clutch streak over the final seven minutes. Holiman stole a bad pass and flew for a euro-step layup to cut it to 69-68, and the Eagles took the lead for the first time since the first half on an Eren Banks three from the top of the key.
The Eagles found life on the next few possessions. Holiman again knocked down a big three followed by Brown III's big-time layup to lead by five at 1:49, which quickly disappeared after a 6-0 run by the visitors.
With 36 seconds left and the Eagles down one, Brown III drove into the paint and got a friendly roll to take the lead at 81-80. The Eagles got a stop, and Banks was perfect on the next two free throws.
GS fouled up by three to stop an offensive possession for the Cajuns, who sunk the next two. On the inbound, Brown III aired out a deep pass to Tyson Brown, who held on to it to seal the victory.
Holiman (24) had his second-consecutive 20-point game to lead the way, joined by Banks (14), Brown III (season-high 13) and Douglas (12). Brown had another near-double-double with eight points and eight rebounds.
"Coach was talking about the process all week, that it had to be good," Holiman said. "I feel like we came into the game with the right mindset. We had good energy from the jump tonight."
The Eagles earned their first victory when trailing with two minutes left since Jan. 14, 2024 against Coastal Carolina, snapping a 16-game losing streak in the category.
GS faces Western Michigan on Saturday, marking the conclusion of the MAC/SBC Challenge in Kalamazoo.