Men's Hoops Suffers First Loss Of Season

Men's Hoops Suffers First Loss Of Season

PEMBROKE, N.C. - The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team could not slow down the Fayetteville State University offense in the second half Saturday afternoon and dropped a 95-78 decision in the final day of the McDonald's Classic hosted by UNC Pembroke.

GSW's record falls to 2-1 while Fayetteville State evened its mark at 2-2.

The Broncos led by eight points at the halftime break, 48-40, before turning on the jets in the second half. Fayetteville State shot 65.5 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes and sank 6 of 8 from beyond the arc.

GSW did its best to hang with the hot-shooting Broncos, making 7 of 14 attempts from long range, but could not make up enough ground. Fayetteville State had opened up a 20-point lead with 3:53 to play.

The Broncos finished with a 43-23 rebounding advantage but committed eight more turnovers, 20-12.

Damien Leonard led the Hurricanes with a game-high 25 points on 9 of 19 shooting. Deric Rudolph connected on 5 of 8 from long range and 7 of 10 overall en route to his 21-point afternoon. Darius Redding added 16 points and a team-high six assists.

Fayetteville State had five players score in double digits. Devin Thompson led the way for the Broncos with 19 points. He connected on 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Torian Showers posted a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Joshua Dawson added 16 points. Juwan Addison dished eight assists.

Southwestern returns to action on Saturday with a 7 p.m. game at Albany State.