Brown leads the way, Georgia Southern bounces UTA 74-59

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Tookie Brown scored 23 points as Georgia Southern got off to a slow start but dominated the second half to beat UT Arlington 74-59 in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday night.

UT Arlington sprinted to a 21-8 lead before the Eagles rallied to close to 31-29 at the half. Georgia Southern's Ike Smith hit a jumper to open the second period and Mike Hughes nailed a 3 for a 34-31 lead. Smith added another jumper in a 7-0 run to open the half. The Eagles pushed their advantage to 66-55 with 2:37 left following Jake Allsmiller's trey.

Quan Jackson hit 3 of 3 from distance for 12 points, Hughes added 11 and Smith finished with 10 points and six rebounds for Georgia Southern (15-7, 6-3).

Kevin Hervey had 29 points to lead UT Arlington (13-10, 4-6) which has lost three of its last four games. Link Kabadyundi added eight points with a career-high 11 rebounds.