Brown scores 23, leads Georgia Southern over Georgia State

Feb 17, 2018, 04:51 am

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Tookie Brown scored 23 points and Georgia Southern knocked off rival Georgia State 85-80 on Friday night.

Brown, who was injured and missed the team's first meeting this season -- an 83-66 win for Georgia State on Jan. 20 -- was 6 of 12 from the floor and had five assists for the Eagles (17-10, 8-6 Sun Belt), who snapped a three-game skid.

D'Marcus Simonds scored 21 points with nine rebounds before fouling out with a minute to go as the Panthers (19-8, 10-4) dropped their second straight after winning 10 in a row. They remain alone in second place behind 12-1 Louisiana with the Eagles alone in third.

Southern led the entire game and were up 73-63 with 3:46 to go when Simonds scored five straight points. The Eagles made their final field goal with 5:10 remaining but sank 12 of 15 free throws in the final 1 1/2 minutes when the Panthers got within three points three times.

The teams combined for 47 fouls with Georgia Southern making 25 of 37 free throws to 17 of 39 for Georgia State.