Georgia Southern Returns to League Play at Elon
1/5/2012 5:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Men's Basketball Eagles return to conference play on Thursday night with a trip to Elon. The Eagles look to go 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2005-06 season starting at 7:00 p.m. inside Elon's Alumni Gym. The game can be heard live on the Georgia Southern Radio Network via Eagle Vision at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. Elon's free video streaming of the contest can be accessed at ElonPhoenix.com.
Georgia Southern (4-8, 2-0 SoCon) returned to winning form on Monday night with a convincing 88-60 victory over Brewton-Parker behind 17 points from sophomore Eric Ferguson (Statesboro, Ga.) and a double-double from Willie Powers III (Gainesville, Fla.). Powers dropped 11 points and 11 assists in the win as he matched a career high in assists.
The Eagles shot a season-best .600 from the field against the Barons and consolidated their place as the Southern Conference's top shooting team with a .477 mark. The Eagles are also the league's top three-point shooting team with a .379 percentage. Defensively, the Eagles have held their opponents to a league-low .273 three-point shooting percentage.
Ferguson leads the team in shooting and ranks sixth in the league with 15.1 points per game. Powers ranks second on the Georgia Southern squad with 12.1 points per game. Senior Ben Drayton III (St. Marys, Ga.) and Jelani Hewitt (Miramar, Fla.) round out the top scorers for GSU with 12.0 and 10.1 points, respectively.
Elon enters Thursday's game with a 7-5 record behind 12.5 points per game from Lucas Troutman. The Phoenix opened the 2011-12 home schedule with a 58-53 win over South Carolina, but has lost their last three games, falling to Dartmouth, San Diego State and ultimately North Carolina. Against the Tar Heels, Elon fell 100-62 to the nation's fifth-ranked team.
It will be a short turnaround for the Eagles who return to action on Saturday, January 7th, against Davidson. The game can be seen live on the SoCon TV Network and ESPN3.com starting at 3 p.m.
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