Eagles Close Regular Season Against Elon
2/26/2011 12:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Men's Basketball wraps up the 2010-11 regular season on Saturday (Feb 26th) night against Elon at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles' (5-25, 1-16 SoCon) senior pair of Rory Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) and Johntavious Rucker (Decatur, Ga.) will be honored prior to tipoff. Georgia Southern Athletics will play host to the Hanner Hooligan Tailgate Party on Saturday from 3-5 p.m. The tailgate is free to basketball ticket holders attending the game including Georgia Southern and East Georgia College students. Hamburgers, chili, pizza, and tea will be served.
"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 7 p.m. The same link will access subscription video coverage of the game.
Rucker holds the Georgia Southern School record for single-game steals with eight last year against Reinhardt. Although his career has been plagued by injury, "Tay" as he is known to the team, has become a vital member of the Eagle family. Spencer owns the school record for single-season blocks with 62. He has blocked 35 this season to rank fourth on the career blocks list with 97.
Spencer paced the Eagles in scoring against UNC Greensboro on Thursday, scoring 11 points with three blocks. Junior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) posted 10 points and leads the team in scoring this year with 15.9 points per game. SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) leads all SoCon freshmen with 12.1 points per game. Freshman Jelani Hewitt (Oakland Park, Fla.) ranks second in the SoCon with 2.0 steals per game.
Georgia Southern leads the all-time series 8-6 against Elon (12-16, 6-11 SoCon). Georgia Southern took a 98-88 win over Elon in the 2009-10 home finale as Antonio Hanson scored 39 points in last year's senior night game. This year, GSU fell 84-62 on the road against Elon on January 22nd. Hewitt scored 18 points against Elon while Drayton had 14. Spencer posted a career-high 13 rebounds with eight points.
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.
Matt Matheny leads the Phoenix in his second season at Elon. In his first head coaching job, he has a 21-39 overall record. He became Elon's 17th head coach after 16 years as an assistant coach at Davidson.
Elon is paced by Chris Long's 14.8 points per game while Drew Spradlin has 13.5 points per game. Spradlin was the only Phoenix in double-figures with 21 points in the game on January 24th. Elon is in a battle with UNC Greensboro for the North Division's No. 4 seed into the SoCon Tournament.
The 2011 Southern Conference Tournament opens on Friday, March 4th, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Georgia Southern will face Appalachian State in the first round of the tournament at either 4:30 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.
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.
