Jacksonville State Up Next for Men's Basketball
11/20/2009 2:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Men's Basketball Team (1-2) hits the road for its third and final road game of the week and the month of November. The Eagles travel to Jacksonville State for 5 p.m. (ET) game on Saturday, Nov. 21st. The two teams most recently met on February 21, 2009 in Hanner Fieldhouse with Georgia Southern coming away with a 66-63 win.
"This is the biggest game of the season," said Eagle Head Coach Charlton Young. "We have worked on correcting the mistakes we made in the first two games and we're going to play hard Saturday. I have a lot of respect for James Green, he's one of my mentors and I want my teams to play like his teams have played over the years. "
Last season at Hanner Fieldhouse, Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, Tenn.) and Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) sank key free throws down the stretch and the Gamecocks missed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Georgia Southern the 66-63 victory over Jacksonville State. Georgia Southern held an 11-point lead at the intermission thanks to Antonio Hanson's (Ft. Worth, Texas) three-point goal as the Eagles headed into the locker room. Hanson finished with 19 points to lead the Eagles and Drayton added 17 points and five rebounds. Troupe had 11 points as the Eagles broke an eight-game losing streak.
Georgia Southern controlled the first half against Florida Wednesday (Nov. 18), holding the Gators to only 25.8 percent shooting, but the second half gave the advantage, and the win, to Florida. A Gator scoring run at the beginning of the second half and foul trouble throughout the period hampered the Eagles. Junior forward (Atlanta, Ga.) Rory Spencer had 13 points and four blocks and senior guard Hanson hit three of his three-point baskets in the second half for 11 total points. Junior guard Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) had five assists and two steals in the effort. Florida had only three turnovers in the second half and scored 29 of its points off 43 trips to the free throw line. The Eagles shot 32.7 percent for the game and 22.2 percent from behind the three-point arc. Florida shot 33.9 percent for the game and was 2-16 in three-pointers for 12.5 percent. Freshman guard Kenny Boynton had a game high22 points, 15 coming in the second half.
Jacksonville State (1-1) suffered an 87-62 loss to UBA Tuesday night (Nov. 16) in Pete Mathews Coliseum as the Gamecocks experienced cold shooting in the second half against the Blazers. Tied at the half, the Blazers built a seven-point lead in the first three minutes of the second period while holding Jacksonville State to 26 percent shooting. Sophomore Stephen Hall recorded a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds with three other Gamecocks in double figures. Jay-R Strowbridge and Dominique Shellman each had five assists with Amadou Mbdodji pulling down seven rebounds. UAB had five players in double figure scoring with Elijah Millsap leading all scorers with 18 points.
After this final road game, the Eagles return to Hanner Fieldhouse for the Statesboro sub-regional of the 12-team "Legends Classic." Georgia Southern plays host to Valparaiso, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Troy Friday-Sunday, Nov. 27-29. The Athletics Ticket windows at Hanner Fieldhouse will open one hour prior to the start of the first game each day. For more information, view the men's basketball schedule on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
