Men’s Basketball Announces 2012-13 Schedule
9/13/2012 7:58:35 PM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Non-conference road games at Virginia Tech, Maryland, UAB, Valparaiso, Bradley and Kennesaw State, an invitation to the 2012 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic and 13 home contests highlight the 2012 Georgia Southern Men’s Basketball schedule, announced today by head coach Charlton “C.Y.” Young.
“We’re excited about the schedule; it’s tremendous preparation for our league,” said Young. “That’s the most important part about putting together a good schedule, to get you ready for your conference race. We’re in a very good mid-major conference, but we feel like we are a high major program, so we try to play a high major schedule. If you look at our schedule, we’re at Maryland, at Virginia Tech, at Charlotte, at UAB, we open the year at Valparaiso and we’ve got Georgia State coming to us. I think that playing those big time programs will have us ready for the Southern Conference.”
Season tickets for the 2012-13 campaign go on sale starting on October 1st with prices starting at $59 for general admission seats. Reserved seats in the upper level are $69 each with lower level season tickets at $109. Georgia Southern University faculty and Staff receive a $10 discount on season general admission and upper level seats as well as a $20 discount on lower level season tickets. Purchase your season tickets by contacting the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket office at 1-800-GSU-WINS.
The Eagles open the campaign with the return trip to Valparaiso on November 9th, followed by a trip to Charlotte on November 13th before opening the home portion of the schedule on Friday, November 16th, against Webber International. Southern travels to Kennesaw State (Nov. 21) and Maryland (Nov. 24) before opening conference play on Wednesday, November 28th against Elon in Statesboro. GSU travels to Samford on Saturday, December 1st, for the second early-season league contest.
“It is pivotal for us to get off to a good start in conference play,” said Young. “Last year we got off to a good start, and those early league wins really helped us. I’m hoping that trend continues for us this year.”
A home date against Brewton Parker on December 8th is the final tune-up for the Eagles before opening the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic with a trip to Virginia Tech on December 15th. Georgia Southern then travels to Bradley on December 17th before heading out to Las Vegas for two games at the Orleans Arena. The Eagles will face Mississippi Valley State on Saturday, December 22nd, and either Cal. State Bakersfield or North Florida the following day in the desert.
After a holiday break, in-state rival Georgia State comes to Statesboro on Saturday, December 29th, for a 3 p.m. tilt inside Hanner Fieldhouse.
“Georgia State is a huge game for us, our alumni and the history of this program,” said Young. “I’ve got a lot of respect for what Coach Hunter has done to come in and re-kindle that rivalry for both our programs. He’s doing a great job and they have a big-time ballclub. That game is going to be exciting, and I hope our fans come out, pack the building and we can get it back to the Georgia Southern/Georgia State crowds of old.”
The final non-conference games of the regular season include a trip to UAB on January 2nd and a home game against North Carolina A&T on January 5th.
The Eagles return to conference play with four games in the span of a week. First Georgia Southern faces Wofford in Spartanburg on Saturday, January 12th before returning home for three-straight games inside Hanner Fieldhouse. Davidson comes to town on Monday, January 14th while College of Charleston is in Statesboro on Thursday, January 17th. The week concludes with a game against The Citadel on Saturday, January 19th.
Georgia Southern is on the road for their next three games with back-to-back games in the High Country of North Carolina on January 24th and 26th. GSU faces Appalachian State on the Thursday evening before facing Western Carolina on the following Saturday. The Eagles close out January on Thursday, January 31st at Furman.
GSU is back at home on February 2nd against Chattanooga in a doubleheader inside Hanner Fieldhouse before facing the Mountaineers and Catamounts for the second time in two weeks. Appalachian State comes to town on February 7th, while Western Carolina follows on February 9th.
On Valentine’s Day the Eagles open their second run through the South Division with a trip to The Citadel. GSU will stay in town and face College of Charleston two days later on Saturday, February 16th.
The final home games of the 2012-13 regular season begin on Thursday February 21st against Wofford. The Eagles face Furman on Saturday, February 23rd, before closing the regular season with a pair of games in North Carolina. GSU draws UNCG in the penultimate game of the regular season on February 28th and close the regular season against Davidson in a pivotal contest on Saturday, March 2nd.
The 2012 Southern Conference Tournament is set to run from March 8th through March 11th in Asheville, N.C. The tournament is in its second year at the U.S. Cellular Center.
