The Georgia Southern University men’s basketball team defeated Furman University 64-57 on Monday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Eagles improved their Southern Conference home record to 6-0 and avenged the previous loss this season to the Paladins, losing 54-64 in Timmons Arena on Jan. 19.

GSU outrebounded the Paladins 36-30 and forced 17 turnovers. The Eagles shot a strong 50 percent and their aggressive defense limited Furman to only 36.4 percent.

“Defensively we really turned it up,” head coach Charlton Young said, “I was very proud that our guys decided they were going to stop them.”

The first half was tightly contested throughout, with each team going through up and down moments. Neither team was able to grab the momentum and sustain a lead.

The Paladins shot 48 percent from the floor with the Eagles not far behind at a 44.8 percent rate. The teams were tight on rebounds, with the Eagles leading that category 16-14. The only statistic remotely different was the Eagles had 10 fouls and Furman only had 5.

During the second half the Eagles continued to use a high-pressure defense forcing the Paladins into turnovers, the Eagles went on a 21-3 run to give GSU a 59-47 lead with 5:29 remaining. Furman hit two three-pointers in the final minute to make the game interesting but the Eagles were able to hold on for a key victory.

“Once you get the crowd into it we get a little extra boost,” sophomore Jelani Hewitt said, “We really feed off of the crowd and each other, Ferguson’s dunks and block boosted the whole team and we really turned up our energy in the second half.”

Sophomore Eric Ferguson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with eleven points and eleven rebounds.

“I had a slow start so I really just had to try and play defense tonight,” Ferguson said. “We really feel like this is our league, it’s good to be the underdogs.”

Hewitt had a game-high 16 points to continue his strong run of form recently. Senior guard Willie Powers added 11 points and eight assists while fellow senior Ben Drayton had 13 points and three assists. “A lot of people say the big three but we have the big four,” Young said, “Jelani Hewitt in the last month has become a star in our league.”

GSU will return to action this Thursday night at 7 p.m. in a pivotal matchup with Wofford College. GSU is now one game ahead of Wofford for second place in the south division of the SoCon. A win for the Eagles will be a massive step toward securing second place and a first round bye in the conference tournament.