Stevens clutch as South Alabama tops Georgia Southern 67-61

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Barrington Stevens had a 3-point play and a 3-pointer in the final two minutes and South Alabama turned back Georgia Southern 67-61 on Thursday night in the first game of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

The eighth-seeded Jaguars (14-18) meet fourth-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette in the quarterfinals on Friday.

South Alabama raced to a 36-21 lead as Georgia Southern shot just 20 percent in the first half. The fifth-seeded Eagles (14-17) worked their way back into the game and were down four when Stevens hit a 3-pointer to make it 59-52 with 2:01 to play.

Mike Hughes hit a 3 for George Southern at 1:31 that made it 61-55 but with a minute left, Stevens converted a 3-point play.

Shaq Calhoun had 15 points, Nick Stover 14, Ken Williams 13 and John Brown 12 for South Alabama.

Ike Smith and Tookie Brown had 15 points apiece for Georgia Southern.