Eagles Begin Busy Week of Hoops at Home
2/1/2009 5:09:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern Men's Basketball begins a busy week of hoops at Hanner Fieldhouse, starting Monday night (Feb. 2) against Appalachian State. Tipoff, part of a doubleheader with the women's game against Western Carolina, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The game will also mark the Eagles' 500th in Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles sport a 356-143 (.713) record in Hanner Fieldhouse since the arena opened in 1969. The Eagles have been particularly successful on their home court under current head coach Jeff Price, having accumulated a 96-26 (.787) mark, including a 58-22 (.725) mark against SoCon competition.
Monday's game also begins a three-game stretch at home this week (Thursday vs. Elon; Saturday vs. UNC Greensboro), and continues a streak of five games in 10 days.
The Eagles (7-12 overall, 5-6 SoCon) have won four of their five Southern Conference home games this year. Georgia Southern is coming off a disappointing 100-87 loss at Chattanooga, despite hitting a season-high 15 3-pointers and shooting 53.6 percent from long range.
Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, TX/Independence CC) is coming off a career-high 26 point night, in which he hit seven 3-pointers. He leads the active players scoring 12.3 points per game and has dished out 49 assists.
Julian Allen (Waterbury, CT/Garden City CC) is the only player in the SoCon to to rank among the ?Top 20' in scoring (11.6 ppg/19th) and ?Top 10' in rebounding (6.8 rpg/9th) and steals (1.4 spg/tied 10th). Allen has led the team in rebounds 10 of the 19 games.
True-freshman Ben Drayton III (St. Marys/Camden County) moved up to second in the SoCon shooting 46 percent from long range (23-50). He is averaging nearly 11 points per game in league play and is shooting 52.6 percent from 3-point range.
Appalachian State (8-11, 5-6) held off a late Furman charge to defeat the Paladins 77-75 on Saturday. Donald Sims scored a game-high 20 points while Isaac Butts added 16 points/16 rebounds. Appy held a 39-26 edge on the glass, including a +8 advantage on the offensive boards. ASU still held on for the win despite not scoring a field goal over the final 3:06.
The Mountaineers rank second in rebounding offense (39.7), first with a +6.7 rebounding margin but last in turnover margin (-4.7). Butts enters the game fourth among the league rebounding leaders (8.9) and second in FG percentage (.595). Kellen Brand is 13th averaging 13.6 points per game while Sims is 20th at 11.5. App State has won five of the last six meetings with Georgia Southern.
NOT TOO LATE TO SUBMIT FAVORITE HANNER MEMORY: Fans it's not too late to submit your favorite Hanner Fieldhouse memory in celebration of the Eagles' 500th game there. Fans can e-mail their memory to athletics@georgiasouthern.edu and put in the subject line Hanner Memory. The list will be shared on Monday.
ESPN BRACKETBUSTERS TO BE ANNOUNCED MONDAY: Georgia Southern is one of two teams in the Southern Conference (Davidson) which will get a predetermined home game in the upcoming ESPN BracketBusters on Saturday, February 21. The Eagles' opponent will be announced on Monday (Feb. 2).
The Eagles are participating for the third time in the last five years: at Illinois-Chicago in 2005 and at Austin Peay last year. Georgia Southern received a home game in return for going on the road the previous two times, and will travel to the opponent next season.
