Eagles Return Home to Face The Citadel Saturday Night
2/19/2011 2:27:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball returns to the friendly confines of Hanner Fieldhouse to open a three-game homestand Saturday, February 19th night against The Citadel. The Eagles (4-24, 0-15 SoCon) opened the SoCon schedule this season against the Bulldogs in Charleston on Dec. 2. The Citadel (9-19, 5-10 SoCon) has lost its last six games including a 65-52 defeat on Thursday night (Feb. 15) to crosstown rival College of Charleston.
"Voice of the Eagles" Chris Blair and the Georgia Southern Radio Network will have live coverage on 102.9 FM and GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision starting at 6:30 p.m. The same link will access subscription video coverage of the game.
Junior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) posted his first career double-double against Davidson on Wednesday night (Feb. 16) with 16 points and a season-high 10 assists. He is averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game. Freshman of the Year Candidate Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) scored 10 points against the Wildcats and leads all SoCon freshmen with 12.4 points per game. Senior Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) has scored 9.8 points per contest. Ferguson leads the Eagles on the rebounding glass with 5.7 per game while Spencer has 5.5 rebounds per game.
The Eagles lead the all-time series against The Citadel by a 25-19 margin, but fell earlier this season to the Bulldogs, 65-52, in Charleston, S.C. The Eagles defeated the Bulldogs last year at Hanner Fieldhouse, 61-58 as the Eagles staged the largest comeback in program history. Georgia Southern trailed by 21 in the second half but erased the deficit with a 16-4 run.
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 his 1,517-career point total ranks 11th on the all-time Georgia Southern scoring list.
The Bulldogs are coached by first-year head coach Chuck Driesell who came to Charleston following four years at his alma mater, Maryland. He is the son of Hall-of-Fame head coach Lefty Driesell who worked a 17-year tenure at Maryland before guiding the James Madison and Georgia State programs.
Cameron Wells leads the Bulldogs with 16.9 points per game with a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game. In total, four Bulldogs are scoring in double-figures to post 75 percent of The Citadel's 64.0 points per game.
The Eagles will close out the 2011 regular season at Hanner Fieldhouse with games against UNC Greensboro (Feb. 24th) and Elon (Feb. 26th). The 2011 Southern Conference Tournament opens on Friday, March 4th in Chattanooga, Tenn.
On Saturday (Feb. 19th), The Southern Explosion Dance Team will host its annual dance camp starting at 10 a.m. at the GSU Recreation Activity Center. The camp is for ages 6-18 and will include a performance during the Citadel game. The cost is $30 per student and includes lunch and a T-shirt for the performance. For more information, contact Bryan Realiza at bryan.realiza@gmail.com.
The first 50 fans for Saturday's game will receive a Chick-fil-A cow, coupons and sandwiches. At halftime, a performance by the Moore Elementary School Jump Rope Team of Dublin, Ga., will entertain the crowd.
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 stats and video are available at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
