STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) – Marquis Eaton scored five points in the final 22 seconds, Christian Willis made two free throws with 1.8 seconds left, and Arkansas State rallied late to beat Georgia Southern 76-75 on Tuesday night.
Eaton finished with 17 points – 15 in the second half – and Willis scored 10. J.J. Matthews had 11 points, 11 rebounds and two steals and Canberk Kus scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards.
Georgia Southern (18-13, 12-8 Sun Belt) will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and earned a bye into Monday’s second round. Ninth-seeded Arkansas State (16-15, 8-12) plays at No. 8 seed Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round Saturday.
The Eagles led by as many as 11 points in the second half and back-to-back baskets by Ike Smith gave them a 73-66 lead with 1:53 to play. Matthews answered with a three-point play, Eaton hit a 3-pointer and then GSU’s Calvin Wishart missed the front end of a one-and-one. Eaton made a layup with seven seconds to go and Elijah McCadden made two free throws on the other end to make it 75-74, but Willis was fouled after the inbound pass and hit two foul shots to cap the scoring with 1.8 seconds remaining.
Isaiah Crawley had 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Georgia Southern.
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