FRIDAY SPORTS: Georgia Southern defeats Furman

Jelani Hewitt poured in 22 points to lead four Eagles in double figures and Georgia Southern allowed just one field goal over the final 7:54 to down Furman, 82-73, in the Paladins’ regular season finale on Thursday evening at Timmons Arena.

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The fourth-ranked South Carolina women’s basketball team secured sole possession of the program’s first SEC regular-season title Thursday night in a 67-56 victory over Georgia in front of a season-high crowd of 12,458. The Gamecock defense held the Lady Bulldogs to 32.8 percent from the field, while sophomore guard Tiffany Mitchell led South Carolina (26-2, 14-1 SEC) with a career high 25 points. Freshman center Alaina Coates found her rhythm and produced 18 points and eight rebounds.

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College baseball’s premier rivalry is this weekend as South Carolina (7-0) meets Clemson (6-1) for three games in three different sites. The series opens on Friday in Columbia at Carolina Stadium with first pitch at 7 p.m. Game two of the series shifts to Greenville and the Reedy River Rivalry contest at Fluor Field with first pitch at 2:05 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday in Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium at 4 p.m.

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Furman baseball will make its first foray into the state of Florida since 1998 this weekend when it travels to DeLand, Fla., to play three games in the Stetston Invitational at Melching Field. Furman (3-5) will take on Maine on Friday in a 1:00 p.m. game, face host Stetson on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., and play Iowa at 10:00 a.m. Sunday in the final game of the three-game set.

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The Detroit Tigers defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-2 Thursday in Spring ball in Lakeland, Florida. Kris Medlen gave up one run in two innings in his spring debut for the Braves. Jason Heyward hit a long homer in his second at bat.