Eagles Face Truett-McConnell on Education Day, Monday Evening

Monday, December 22

Statesboro, Ga.

6 PM

Georgia Southern University

Truett-McConnell

Buy Tickets

Eric Ferguson

Photo by: John Kersten

Eagles Face Truett-McConnell on Education Day, Monday Evening

12/21/2014 5:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Final non-conference game of the year starts at 6 p.m. inside Hanner Fieldhouse

STATESBORO, Ga. – After six days in the Sunshine State, Georgia Southern Men's Basketball returns to the friendly confines for the final non-conference test of the season on Monday afternoon against Truett-McConnell. The Eagles are riding a two-game win streak and are off to their best start since the 1992-93 season. Jelani Hewitt is averaging 31.5 ppg over the last two games and enters Monday's game as the NCAA leader in scoring with 24.0 ppg.

Monday's game features a pair of special ticket discounts. Fans can donate a new, unwrapped toy to "Toys for Tots" and purchase a ticket to the game for just $5 (limit one ticket per toy). Georgia Southern University faculty and staff as well as Bulloch County students and education employees can get tickets for just $5.

DATE: Monday, December 22nd, 2014
TIME: 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Hanner Fieldhouse – Statesboro, Ga.
VIDEO: GS All-Access
RADIO: Georgia Southern Sports Network from Learfield Sports
Play-by-Play – Chris Blair - @CSBRadio
Analyst – AJ Henderson - @AJHenderson_SID
Metter/Swainsboro – 103.7 WMBZ-FM
Statesboro – 106.5 WZBX-FM
Savannah/Hilton Head/Brunswick – 102.1 WZAT-FM
Jessup – 1370 WLOP-AM
Worldwide – GSEagles.com
LIVE STATS: GSEagles.com
TWITTER UPDATES: @GSAthletics_MBB

SERIES HISTORY: First Meeting

GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES (6-2)
Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | Media Guide | Game Notes

TRUETT-MCCONNELL BEARS (7-8)
Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats

TICKET SPECIALS SET FOR TRUETT-MCCONNELL GAME
The Eagles non-conference finale on December 22nd will feature a pair of ticket specials at Hanner Fieldhouse. Fans can donate a new unwrapped toy to "Toys for Tots" and pick up a general admission ticket for just $5. Georgia Southern University Faculty and Staff as well as Bulloch County School System Faculty, Staff, and Students can also purchase tickets for $5 for Education Day.

CLOSING NON-CONFERENCE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
For the first time since the Eagles joined the TAAC in 1980-81, Georgia Southern will wrap-up non-conference play before the December 25th. Following tonight's game, Georgia Southern will play Sun Belt opponents exclusively.

ONE OF BEST NON-CONFERENCE SEASONS
Georgia Southern's 6-2 non-conference start currently ranks as the fourth best non-conference season in program history and could tie for the second-best non-conference season in program history with a win against Truett-McConnell.

Pl.        Year               Record          Pct.    Notes
1.         1984-85           12-1                 .923     TAAC Regular Season Champs
2.         2003-04           7-2                   .778     -
3.         2014-15           6-2                   .750     -
            1992-93           6-2                   .778     -
5.         1988-89           7-3                   .700     NIT Appearance
            1987-88           7-3                   .700     NIT Appearance
7.         1985-86           9-4                   .692     -
8.         2005-06           9-5                   .643     SoCon South Champs / NIT
            1991-92           9-5                   .643     TAAC Champs / NCAA Tourney
10.       2006-07           7-4                   .636     -
            2002-03           7-4                   .636     -
            2001-02           7-4                   .636     SoCon South Champs

WIEDEMAN REACHES 1,000/700
Trent Wiedeman joined an exclusive club in the Stetson game, reaching 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds. Crossing the threshold was special because Wiedmean crossed both marks on the same play. He grabbed an offensive rebound, put it back for a deuce and was fouled on the play. He added the free throw for 1,000/700 with 16:17 left in the first half.

HEWITT MOVES INTO TOP-20
In the Eagles' loss to UCF on December 2nd, Jelani Hewitt moved into the top-20 in career scoring at Georgia Southern. He now sits in 16th with 1,456 career points. He needs just 63 more points to Don "Whitey" Verstaete's 10th place career total of 1,519.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD
The Eagles will travel 12,283 miles in the 30 games scheduled for the 2014-15 schedule. That total is just 168 miles less than halfway around the Earth. Georgia Southern's farthest games away from home last season, played in Cancun (840 mi.), are closer than two of the Eagles' opponents at Texas State (971 mi.) and UT Arlington (893 mi.).

Season miles to date................................2,450 mi.
2014-15 total season mileage..................12,283 mi.
2013-14 total season mileage....................9.216 mi.

STARTERS SCORE THE BALANCE AGAINST USF
The Eagles' scoring against USF came exclusively from the starting lineup for the first time in 659 games. The last time the bench went scoreless was on March 20, 1992 in the NCAA Tournament against Oklahoma State.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Season tickets for the 2014-15 season are available now by contacting the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office. With 13 doubleheaders on the schedule, fans can get the same seat for men's and women's games for just $120. For more information, contact the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GSU-WINS.

THE COACH
Head Coach Mark Byington enters this game with a 28-25 career record as in his second season with the Eagles.

THE WEATHER
Another cool, rainy day is in the cards for the Low Country on Monday as precipitation lingers for the final home game of the calendar year. Conditions inside Hanner Fieldhouse should be picture perfect as the Eagles look to improve to 5-0 at home this season.

UP NEXT
Following the holiday break, Georgia Southern opens conference play on Tuesday, December 30th, at Texas Arlington. The Eagles face the Mavericks at 8:15 p.m. (ET).

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets call 1-800-GSU-WINS.