AMERICUS - After opening the conference portion of their schedule with three-consecutive road losses, the Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team welcomed a return to the friendly confines of the Storm Dome on Saturday afternoon and defeated Armstrong Atlantic State University, 82-63, behind 22 points and 10 rebounds from Phillip Brown.
The Hurricanes (10-3, 1-3 PBC) picked up their first league win of the year and handed Armstrong (7-9, 3-5 PBC) its second-straight loss.
A Grant Domsic 3-point basket for Armstrong at the 16:50 mark of the first half gave the Pirates a 7-5 advantage, their largest lead of the afternoon. After GSW had regained the lead, Chris Vanlandingham dunked with 14:25 left in the half to put Armstrong ahead 10-9. It was the Pirates' last lead of the game.
Matt Shaw connected on a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to put the Hurricanes up for good at 11-10.
GSW stretched the lead to eight on three occasions before eventually taking a five-point lead (32-27) into the break.
A Vanlandingham 3-pointer with 16:54 to play trimmed the 'Canes lead to two (38-36). Colin Slotter gave GSW some breathing room when he answered seconds later with a 3-pointer of his own to stretch the margin back to five (41-36).
Aric Miller brought Armstrong within three points at the 14:25 mark, when his 3-point bucket made the score 45-42, but the Blue & Gold slammed the door shut on the Pirates when they reeled off 15 unanswered points and put the game out of reach. Milos Kleut scored five points during the run for GSW en route to his 15 off the bench.
The Hurricanes led by double digits the rest of the way.
GSW continued to shoot well from the field in the win, finishing the game 29 of 55 (52.7 percent). It marked the seventh time this season that the Hurricanes shot over 50 percent in a contest.
GSW dominated inside on Saturday, finishing with a 46-24 points in the paint advantage. The Hurricanes also made the most of a lopsided advantage in bench points, winning that battle 26-12.
It wasn't all about offense, as the Hurricane defense was solid as well, holding Armstrong to 23 points below their season average.
Brown's 22 points came off 7 of 11 shooting and 8 of 13 free throws. The double-double was his sixth of the season. Kleut was 5 of 6 from the floor and a perfect 5 of 5 from the charity stripe. He grabbed seven boards. Slotter added 14 points.
Armstrong was led by Keyshore Williams' 15 points. DeVon Jones added 13 points and Vanlandingham chipped in 12.
The Hurricanes return to action on Monday with a 3:30 p.m. tilt in the Storm Dome against Flagler College.
