Georgia Southern Opens SoCon Play Against Mocs
11/30/2011 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball opens league play on Thursday night against Chattanooga at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tickets are still available for 90's night at Hanner with tipoff at 7 p.m. Contact the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or visiting GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/tickets.
Don't be clueless, grab your friends and come out to Hanner Fieldhouse as music from the decade of the 90s will be featured during pre-game as well as during halftime and timeouts. Eagle fans can win themed prizes, including a video prize pack from Video Warehouse with 10 of the top movies of the 1990s and a $50 gift certificate, and a lunch box with gift certificates from Harveys Supermarkets, Lily's Cafe, Subway and Zaxby's.
Fans who wear the best 90s attire are eligible to win one of two gift certificates from R.J. Pope and the Cobbler's Bench. The first 100 fans in attendance will each receive a slap bracelet, one of 90s iconic accessories.
Georgia Southern (1-4) looks to improve to 2-1 at home this season and snap a four-game skid against the Chattanooga. The Eagles look for their first win to open league play since the 2005-06 season when Georgia Southern took a 83-65 win over The Citadel in Chattanooga.
Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) is Georgia Southern's top scorer and rebounder with 16.0 points per game to go along with 7.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore Jelani Hewitt (Miramar, Fla.) ranks second on the team with 11.6 points per game while the duo of Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) and Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) tie for third with 10.6 points per game.
The last time Georgia Southern opened league play against Chattanooga was on Dec. 3, 1998 when the Eagles took a 72-55 victory in Statesboro. This season, UTC is 2-4 on the year with wins over Warren Wilson and Savannah State. The Mocs held tight with Butler in the season's second weekend, falling 57-46. Last time out, Chattanooga fell 76-74 to Gardner-Webb in overtime behind 17 points from Keegan Bell.
A Johnson City, Tenn. native, Omar Wattad has 11.7 points per game and scored 24 in UTC's season opener at Indiana. Standing at 6-9, Chattanooga's Drazen Zlovaric has 7.2 rebounds per game with a season-high 10 against Indiana to open his first season at UTC after transferring from Georgia.
The Eagles close the weekend on Saturday night with another SoCon tilt against Appalachian State. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.
Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.
