Georgia Southern defeats UT Arlington 76-64

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Jelani Hewitt scored 18 points and Georgia Southern took another step closer to a Sun Belt Conference championship with a 76-64 victory over UT Arlington on Thursday night.

Mike Hughes added 16 points, Eric Ferguson 15 and Jake Allsmiller 10 for the Eagles (21-7, 14-5), who rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit.

Georgia Southern plays its final regular-season game at Georgia State on Saturday, with the co-leaders facing off for the regular-season title and top seed to the conference tournament.

Jamel Outler scored 23 points and Lonnie McClanahan 14 for the Mavericks (16-13, 10-9), who shot 62.5 percent in the first half but cooled off to 46.2 percent overall with 25 turnovers.

The Eagles scored 11 unanswered points to take a 53-47 lead with 10:45 left. They maintained the lead and Hewitt made four free throws over the final 1:32 to ensure the win.