Hewitt leads first-place Georgia Southern to 83-46 win

Jan 29, 2016, 09:51 pm

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Jelani Hewitt scored 17 points on the strength of five 3-pointers and Trent Wiedeman added 16 points and Georgia Southern cruised to an 83-46 victory over Appalachian State on Thursday night.

The Mountaineers (8-11, 5-5 Sun Belt) came in on a four-game winning streak, but trailed 33-16 at halftime before being outscored by 20 points in the second half by the Eagles (14-4, 7-2).

Angel Matias added 13 points and Eric Ferguson 11 for the Eagles, who shot only 40 percent in the first half but finished 33 of 63 for 52.4 percent, including 12 of 23 from 3-point range. They were outrebounded 42-34 but made 14 steals as the Mountaineers ended up with 18 turnovers.

Appalachian State didn't have a player reach double figures. The Mountaineers finished 17 of 59 for 28.8 percent.

The victory was the third straight for Georgia Southern, which stayed atop the Sun Belt standings.