Western Carolina Heads into Hanner Saturday
1/9/2010 2:19:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - For Georgia Southern Head Coach Charlton "C.Y." Young, many nights are the same, he is parked in front of a TV screen and rewinds a game film, looking for weaknesses in the Eagles' next opponent. On this occasion, watching a previous Western Carolina game, he rewinds, and rewinds and rewinds, scanning for flaws in the Catamount game. On Saturday, January 9th at 3:30 p.m., the Eagles will see the live version of Western Carolina, airing a 12-2 overall record and 2-0 mark in the Southern Conference.
"We are playing one of the top two teams in our league," said Coach Young. "They have a veteran, battle-tested bunch and I admire their grit and what coach Larry Hunter has done with their team."
The Lady Eagles play the College of Charleston at 1 p.m. before Georgia Southern and Western Carolina tip off at 3:30 p.m. With the "Dollar Day" promotion, any ticket for Saturday's doubleheader is only a dollar. Tickets must be purchased the day of the game, Jan. 9, at the ticket windows at Hanner Fieldhouse. The ticket windows open at noon. For those who cannot attend the game in person, Chris Blair will provide the play-by-play and John Koon the analysis on WPMX 102.9 in Statesboro or globally online at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com
Western Carolina, ranked seventh in the latest CollegeInsider.com mid-major top 25 poll, missed a trip to Hanner Fieldhouse last year with the league schedule, and has not won in Statesboro since the 1997-98 season.
Georgia Southern leads the overall series 17-11, but the Catamounts took the 89-75 win last year (January 19, 2009) at the Ramsey Center in the only meeting between the two institutions. Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) and Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) were the top two scorers for the Eagles with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Senior forward Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, Tenn.) had seven rebounds to lead Georgia Southern on the glass.
Coming off the bench, WCU senior forward Jake Robinson (13.7 points per game), who had a game-high 20 points in last year's win, and junior guard Mike Williams (10.7 ppg) are one-two on the Catamount scoring list. Junior forward Anthony Phillip poured in 19 points and was the top rebounder (8) in the 124-53 Western Carolina win over Berea (Ky.) Thursday. Redshirt-sophomore guard Harouna Mutombo (avg. 10 points) added 15 points and sophomore Antoine Childs 14. The Catamounts shot 63.4 percent from the field and had 17 three-point baskets while holding the Mountaineers to 31.3 percent shooting. Senior guard Brandon Giles is the only other WCU player averaging in double figures this season with 10.0 points per game.
Georgia Southern (3-13, 0-3), is looking for its first conference win and first win of 2010. The Eagles, who played seven of their last eight games on the road, play five of their next seven games at Hanner Fieldhouse. This afternoon's game is the second of this short two-game homestand, following a loss to Chattanooga Wednesday (January 6) night, 63-75.
With his streak of double-figure scoring games ending against Coastal Carolina, Willie Powers' scored 17 in the second half against the Mocs for 25 total, his second 20-plus point game of the season, and fifth of his career. Powers leads the Eagles with 14.2 points per game with senior guard Antonio Hanson (Ft. Worth, Texas) checking in with a 11.3 points per game scoring average. Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) is just below double-digits are at 9.7. Troupe tied a season-high with nine rebounds vs. the Mocs and is third on the team in rebounding at 4.2 per game.
The Eagles tied a season-high with 17 steals against Chattanooga, putting them back in the top 25 nationally with 9.2 steals per game. Hanson (Ft. Worth, Texas) had a career-best four steals with Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) and Johntavious Rucker (Decatur, Ga.) adding four and three, respectively. Rucker ranks 28th in the country with 2.4 steals per game.
