AMERICUS, Ga. -- Junior transfer Donte Tatum made 8 of 11 shots and posted his first double-double of the season as he scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Georgia Southwestern State University men's basketball team to a 96-82 victory over Albany State University on Monday evening in the Storm Dome. It was the second meeting between the schools in three days as GSW won at Albany State on Saturday, 61-57.

How It Happened: The Hurricanes matched a program record set Feb. 9, 2008, for most free throws attempted in a game (45) during the NCAA era. Despite getting into eventual foul trouble (three players fouled out), it was Albany State who took the early lead on Monday. A 29-13 run midway through the first half gave the visitors their largest lead of the evening, 36-24, with 5:26 remaining before the break. ASU led 48-40 at the half. 

GSW pulled within four points less than three minutes into the second period when a 3-pointer by Jarrett Adderton made the score 55-51. Albany State stretched the margin back to nine points at the 14:30 mark before Kahlon Whitley connected on a shot from long range and four consecutive trips to the charity stripe allowed the Hurricanes to even the score at 63-63 with 12:12 to play.

Devon Higgs secured his own rebound on a missed free throw and dished to Tatum for the go-ahead score and the Hurricanes led the rest of the way. That exchange was in the midst of a 22-2 run that saw GSW go from down nine points to up 11 in the span of six minutes.

The Hurricanes stretched their lead to 19 with two minutes to go.      

Despite being outshot from long range, 31.8 percent for GSW compared to 42.3 percent for ASU, the Hurricanes finished over 50 percent from the floor overall (30 for 58). The Hurricanes grabbed eight more rebounds, 44-36, and dished out one more assist, 15-14. Turnovers were even at 17 apiece.    

Who Stood Out: The Hurricanes had a balanced scoring attack as four of the five starters scored in double figures, led by Tatum. Higgs turned in a double-double performance with 17 points and 11 rebounds to go with a game-high five steals. Noah Louis was a rebound shy of providing the third GSW double-double of the night as he scored 20 points and finished with nine boards. Louis sank 14 of 17 from the charity stripe. Baris Ulker provided a spark off the bench with 11 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Malik Parker led ASU with 24 points. Rodney Hunter had a team-best seven rebounds. Joshua Jerome, the Golden Rams leading scorer on Saturday with 14 points, was held to one point in tonight's rematch.     

Up Next: The Hurricanes are off for the holidays and return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 6 in the Storm Dome against Lander University. GSW will play Peach Belt Conference games the rest of the regular season.