Eagles cut it close to advance to final

GEORGIA SOUTHERN 44, LOUISIANA-MONROE 43

NEW ORLEANS — Curtis Diamond hit a game-winning three-pointer with 1:49 left to give Georgia Southern a 44-43 victory over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday to advance to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game.

Diamond missed a three-pointer earlier in that Georgia Southern possession, but Eric Ferguson grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to an open Diamond.

Georgia Southern’s Jelani Hewitt missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 8.2 seconds left. ULM pushed the ball up court, but Justin Roberson missed a contested runner in the lane as time expired.

Second-seeded Georgia Southern (22-8) will play No. 1 seed Georgia State (23-9) today for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It will be a rematch of the regular-season championship game, which the Panthers won 72-55.

Trent Wiedeman and Hewitt had 11 points apiece for the Eagles. Diamond finished with 10.

ULM’s Tylor Ongwae, averaging 13.9 points per game, was held scoreless on nine attempts. Jamaal Samuel and Roberson had 12 each for No. 3 seed ULM (21-12).

GEORGIA STATE 83, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 79

R.J. Hunter had 32 points and eight steals and Georgia State beat Louisiana-Lafayette 83-79 on Saturday to advance to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season.

Georgia State lost in overtime against Louisiana-Lafayette in the 2014 Sun Belt title game.

Georgia State’s pressure defense caused problems for Lafayette. The Panthers forced 21 turnovers, 17 off steals.

The Panthers ended the first half on a 19-6 run, capped by Isaiah Dennis’ steal and coast-to-coast dunk just before the halftime buzzer for a 44-27 lead.

Fourth-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette (20-13) trailed by as many as 24 points, but pulled within 72-63 on Steven Wronkoski’s reverse layup with 2:30 left. Georgia State responded with an 8-3 run and held on down the stretch.

Devonta Walker led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 17 points.