BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Sophomore guard Jacob Hudson scored a career-high 22 points, but it was not enough as the Gardner-Webb (0-11) men's basketball team dropped a tough 88-84 contest versus Georgia Southern (6-5) on Saturday afternoon inside Paul Porter Arena.

The Runnin' Bulldogs placed four players in double-figures as freshman Spence Sims added a new personal-best with 20 points while sophomores Jacob Hogarth and Colin Hawkins chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Gardner-Webb posted a season-high after going 50% (27-54) from the floor, including 7-for-16 from deep. The Dawgs also connected on 23-of-28 shots from the charity stripe while holding a 34-30 advantage on rebounds.

An old-fashinoed three-point play by Georgia Southern's Dwayne Williams staked the Eagles to an early 8-6 lead before Sims nailed the first of his four threes, sparking a 9-0 run by GWU.

The advantage grew to as many as nine points, 29-20, but Georgia Southern eventually used a 12-2 burst to gain the 46-38 lead with less than two minutes to play in the opening half. However, a tough layup by Riek Riek followed a pull-up triple by Curtis Williams III pulled the Runnin' Bulldogs to within 46-43 heading to halftime.

Gardner-Webb trimmed the deficit to a single point on a pair of occasions to start the second half, but the Eagles gained control of the game with another 12-2 run, this time putting the visitors up by double-digits, 60-49, with 14:37 on the game clock.

The Dawgs were able to pull to within five points on a trio of instances down the stretch, but could not get any closer until the final driving layup by Hawkins that made the score 88-84.

The Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action on Friday, December 12, playing host to Brevard College inside Paul Porter Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.