Georgia Southern Travels To Take On UNC Greensboro
1/20/2011 12:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Men's Basketball team returns to the road on Thursday night, January 20th against UNC Greensboro starting at 7 p.m. from the Greensboro Coliseum. The Eagles' nationally ranked defense could cause problems for the Spartans, who have lost 15 of their last 17 games this year. The Georgia Southern Radio Network will have live coverage on 102.9 FM and GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision starting at 6:30 p.m.
Three players are averaging double figures for Georgia Southern (4-15, 0-5 SoCon) with junior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) leading the way with 15.2 points per game. Drayton scored 16 in Georgia Southern's last appearance Saturday afternoon as the Eagles played host to Furman. Freshman Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) is working on one of the best freshman years in school history with 13.9 points per game. Senior Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) is averaging 11.7 points per game with 23 blocks. He has 85 career blocks and ranks fifth on the career list, one shy of fourth place.
Thursday's game is the 17th all-time meeting between UNC Greensboro and Georgia Southern. The Spartans hold a 9-7 lead in the all-time series taking the last two meetings. Last season, GSU and UNC Greensboro only played once with the Eagles falling 81-79 in the Greensboro Coliseum. Georgia Southern is 1-1 all-time in the Coliseum.
While the Spartans have just two marks in the win column, both have come in the last week as UNCG took wins over Appalachian State and Davidson. The victory over the Mountaineers (on The Mountain) was a 74-73 win while UNCG took a 77-69 win over Davidson. Against the Wildcats, Trevis Simpson dropped 33 points off the bench to lead UNCG shooting 12-of-15 from the field. Aloysius Henry leads UNCG in scoring with 10.9 points per game, but had just six points in 16 minutes against Davidson.
Head coach Charlton "C.Y." Young leads the Eagles in his second year in charge of his alma mater's program. Young led Georgia Southern to its last NCAA Tournament appearance and ranks as one of the leading scorers all-time for the Eagles.
Mike Dement leads the Spartans in the fifth season of his second tenure as UNCG head coach. He has a 116-153 record at Greensboro in 10 total seasons. Now in his 24th season as a head coach, Dement has a 321-340 career record.
The Eagles close out the tour of North Carolina on Saturday night against Elon. The game against the Phoenix starts at 7 p.m. Georgia Southern returns home on Wednesday, January 26th, to face College of Charleston for a 7 p.m. game.
Thursday's game can be heard on 102.9 FM and online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision beginning 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Fans may follow Georgia Southern Men's Basketball by visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/basketball or check in at twitter.com/GSAthletics or facebook.com/GSAthletics for short updates. Live video and stats from Thursday's game can be found at UNCGSpartans.com.
