Georgia Southern Faces Florida Wednesday
11/18/2009 12:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Georgia Southern (1-1) plays its second of three games on the road Wednesday, Nov. 18th when it faces Florida (1-0) as part of the "Legends Classic." The contest will air on Fox Sports South with Whit Watson and Mark Wise calling the action. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. For the Eagle fans in Statesboro, Chris Blair will handle the Georgia Southern radio duties on 102.9 WPMX-FM. Globally, the game can be heard on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
Junior guard Willie Powers III returns home to Gainesville, Fla., with his teammates to face the Gators in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. After missing 19 games last year with a knee injury, Powers is back at the point and is leading the Eagles with a 14.5 point- per- game average. Hitting 68.8 percent of his shots from the floor (11-16), Powers boasts a 2:1 assists to turnover ratio. Behind Powers, four other Georgia Southern players have double-figure scoring averages with sophomore guard Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) at 13.5 ppg, junior forward Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) at 11 ppg and guards Antonio Hanson and Johntavious Rucker both at 10 ppg.
"Because my family and friends are there, it's hard to make sure I don't come out pressing instead of staying in the flow of what we do," said Powers, who was a ball boy for the Gators as a sixth-grader during their 1999-2000 season. "My freshman year, it was easier, last year, I had the ball in my hands more and it was hard. The experience the last two years will help this year."
Last season when the two teams met, Georgia Southern outscored Florida 48-40 in the second half, nearly erasing a 15-point halftime deficit. The Gators' 57.6 percent field goal shooting for the game and critical field goals by Nick Calathes at the end of each half helped retain them the win. A fairly even outing on both sides, the two teams matched rebounds (33) and combined for 17 turnovers. Antonio Hanson had 16 points and six assists to pace Georgia Southern with four other Eagles in double figures. For the Gators, Calathes finished with a game-high 21 points and Alex Tyus 20. Parsons chipped in 14.
After dispatching St. Leo and Webber International in exhibition games, Billy Donovan opened his 14th season with Florida as the Gators defeated Stetson 74-46 Sunday (November 15th). Donovan has 310 wins against 126 losses as head coach in Gainesville and an impressive 44-2 home record in non-conference games over the past five seasons. Florida's 31-4 run in the first half put the game out of reach for Stetson as Chandler Parsons had 14 points as the game's top scorer. Tyus had a double-double with 13 rebounds and 12 points and Vernon Macklin (13) and Kenny Boynton (12) also scored in double figures. While the game was under control early, the Gators were 0-12 from the three-point line, putting the streak of 579 games with a three-pointer in jeopardy. With 31.2 seconds left in the game, Parsons hit one to extend the streak, which dates back to January 11, 1992, to 580.
Drayton led the Eagles off the bench with 15 points in the 90-66 loss to South Carolina Monday (November 16). Powers had 14 points and Hanson had 12 points, all off three-pointers, including three in the second half, for Georgia Southern. Freshman Cameron Baskerville (Marietta, Ga.) and Gamecock Dominique Archie shared high-rebounding honors with 10 each.
