STATESBORO – Eagle Nation got its first look at the 2017-18 Georgia Southern men's and women's basketball teams at Hoops Fan Fest Wednesday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

The men's team tipped the night off with a scrimmage as they finished practice, and the women's team followed with a scrimmage. Both teams were introduced, and student-athletes competed in a 3-point shooting contest. 

Nakol Franks represented the women's team in the 3-point shootout after topping Alexis Brown in the semifinals. Jake Allsmiller beat Mike Hughes to represent the men's team, and then Franks topped Allsmiller by a basket in the finals.

"It gave our kids a chance to play in front of people and a change of pace," said women's coach Kip Drown. "You know we've been practicing now for three weeks, and it was a nice break-up of the monotony of day-after-day-after-day. I know they were excited about that, and it was fun tonight."

Fans were able to pick up schedule posters, player cards and coaches cards for autographs, as well as purchase season tickets. 

"It's a fun time of year," said men's coach Mark Byington. "It was great for the students and the rest of Statesboro to come out and support us tonight, and hopefully, they will come out and see us a lot this year."

The Eagle men have been one of the youngest teams in the country the last two years, and for the second year in a row, Georgia Southern returns 94 percent of its scoring and all five starters, including first-team All-Sun Belt selections Ike Smith and Tookie Brown. A number of college basketball publications are predicting Georgia Southern to be one of the top teams in the Sun Belt Conference. 

The Georgia Southern women finished with a 13-17 overall record in 2016-17, but a 9-9 mark in the league gave the Eagles their first appearance in the Sun Belt Conference tournament. A team that ranked in the top of the league in fundamental categories such as free throw percentage and defense will look to put together their complete offense and defense plan leading up to the regular-season opener on November 10 at North Carolina A&T.

The women's team opens the season in an exhibition game against Fort Valley State Oct. 31, at 6:30 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. The men's team opens the campaign with an exhibition game against Georgia College Nov. 1, in Hanner Fieldhouse, and tipoff is at 7 p.m.

Season tickets, which are good for both men's and women's home games, start as low as $90, and fans can save over $200 by purchasing season tickets. For basketball ticket information, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

Mark your calendars for The Hoops Tip-Off Breakfast, which has become an annual tradition. It will be Oct. 25, in Hanner with doors opening at 7:30 a.m. Contact Dan Adams in the marketing department for more information (dadams@georgiasouthern.edu). 

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.