Eagles Face Georgia State in Rivalry Contest
12/21/2011 5:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball enters the second half of its four game road swing on Thursday, December 22nd, at Georgia State. The Eagles, who are 2-0 in the Southern Conference, are looking for a rebound from road losses to Eastern Kentucky and South Alabama.
Thursday's game can be seen on Eagle Vision for current subscribers. The Georgia Southern Radio Network will carry the game on GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com and locally in Statesboro on The Boomer 103.7-FM with Chris Blair and Frank Kerns calling the action.
Senior Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.) poured in 16 points on Monday night as the Eagles (3-6, 2-0 SoCon) ran into a road block against South Alabama. The Eagles' leading scorer on the night raised his career points total to 1,101 and moved into 31st place in career scoring at Georgia Southern. Powers needs 20 points to match Michael Curry's career total of 1,121 points between 1986 and 1990 for 30th place.
The Eagles had an off-night shooting against the Jaguars, posting a season-low .298 field goal percentage. Entering the game, Georgia Southern was the best shooting team from the field in the Southern Conference and ranked among the top-50 teams nationally with a .474 mark.
Thursday's game will be the 44th meeting between the Eagles and Panthers. Georgia Southern has a big lead in the all-time series, 31-12 and took a 74-72 overtime victory last season in Statesboro. Georgia State and Georgia Southern were previously members of the Trans-America Athletic Conference until the Eagles left in 1991 for the Southern Conference. The Panthers left the Atlantic Sun Conference (the evolution of the TAAC) for the Colonial Athletic Association in 2005.
The Panthers are 8-3 on the year and on an eight-game winning streak after opening the season with consecutive losses. The most notable of the wins was a 66-34 win over William and Mary to open league play. Devonta White has 13.1 points per game to lead the Panthers while Jihad Ali is posting 12.2 points per game. Big-man Eric Buckner has 34 blocks (3.1 per game) to go with 6.2 rebounds per game.
The Eagles wrap-up their four game road trip on Friday, December 30th, on the road against Auburn. That game will be broadcast on CSS and ESPN3.com. The Eagles return home on Monday, January 2nd, against Brewton Parker.
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