Men's Basketball Season In Review
3/13/2014 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Eagles reach SoCon Semifinals for first time since 2005
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SEASON REVIEW
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern's final year in the Southern Conference saw the debut of Mark Byington as the Eagles 13th coach in program history, five school records fell, the program's best scoring output in six seasons and the deepest run into the SoCon Tournament for nearly a decade. Take a look back at the 2013-14 season and a sneak peek at the 2014-15 season.
BY THE NUMBERS
6 Georgia Southern has reached the semifinals of the SoCon Tournament six times (1993, 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2014)
13 The Eagles were 14-1 this season when leading with 5 minutes left.
20 Jelani Hewitt and Tre Bussey joined a club of 20 Georgia Southern players to be named All-SoCon.
31 Jelani Hewitt scored 10+ points in 31 of 34 games this season.
42 Georgia Southern players have collected 42 all-conference honors during the program's stay in the SoCon.
153 Jelani Hewitt broke Elton Nesbitt's 2004-05 single-season record of 147 made free throws this year. He finished the year with 153 made free throws.
173 Georgia Southern has scored a three-pointer in 173-straight games.
653 Jelani Hewitt has 660 points this season. That ranks second during the Division I era.
1.000 Georgia Southern posted a perfect 1.000 free throw percentage against Miami with a 16-for-16 night against the Canes.
2014 Georgia Southern joins the #FunBelt on July 1, 2014.
FIRST TRIP TO SEMIFINALS SINCE 2005
In Georgia Southern's 21st and final trip to the SoCon Tournament, the Eagles strung together two wins for just the second time and reached the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2005. It was the program's sixth trip to the SoCon Final Four.
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Georgia Southern's seventh place finish in the league was much better than the SoCon's coaches and media predicted. The Eagles were picked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll with no players on the preseason All-SoCon Team. Additionally, GS was picked 10th in the preseason media poll and 11th by ESPN. In the end, GS upset the league's second-place team, twice, and placed two players on the All-SoCon teams.
STARTING WITH AN EMPTY CUPBOARD
Entering the season, Georgia Southern ranked in the bottom of the league in points, rebounds and assists returning from the 2012-13 season. Most notably, the Eagles returned just 664 points from the previous season, a mere 32% of the previous season's scoring total.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
The Eagle offense averaged 70.8 ppg, the highest total in six seasons for the Eagles' and a total that was better than eight points higher per game than last season. Additionally, Georgia Southern finished the year with just 403 turnovers, the lowest total for the program since the 1984-85 season.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF ON THE REBOUNDING GLASS
Despite returning the fewest rebounds in the league and not starting a player over 6-7, the Eagles managed to finish fifth in defensive rebounds and rebounding margin of -0.1. Overall the Eagles out-rebounded their opponents at a 15-18-1 clip and had 10 games in SoCon play that they won the rebounding battle.
SCHOOL RECORDS REWRITTEN
Georgia Southern set five new school records during the 2013-14 season
INDIVIDUAL
Single Season Games Played 34 – (Hewitt, Bussey, Matias, Baynham)
Single Season Games Started 34 – (Bussey, Matias)
D-I Single Season Free Throws 153 – Jelani Hewitt
TEAM
Three-Pointers Made 242
Three-Pointers Attempted 716
EAGLES ALSO MAKE A SPLASH ON TOP-10 LISTS
Georgia Southern made 50 additions to the record book in the single game, single season, career, class-by-class and team sections.
| SINGLE GAME | ||||
| Category | Place | Name | Total | Game |
| Points | T-5th | Jelani Hewitt | 38 | at Campbell (11-30-13) |
| Field Goals Attempted | T-2nd | Jelani Hewitt | 27 | at Campbell (11-30-13) |
| Field Goal Percentage | 9th | Tre Bussey | 84.6% | Toccoa Falls (11-16-13) |
| 3-PT FGs Made | T-8th | Tre Bussey | 7 | Toccoa Falls (11-16-13) |
| 3-PT FG Attempts | T-7th | Curtis Diamond | 14 | vs. Presbyterian Coll. (11-27-13) |
| Free Throws Made | T-3rd | Jelani Hewitt | 13 | at Campbell (11-30-13) |
| Free Throws Made | T-10th | Tre Bussey | 12 | at Old Dominion (11-23-13) |
| Free Throw Attempts | T-7th | Tre Bussey | 14 | at Old Dominion (11-23-13) |
| Free Throw Attempts | T-7th | Jelani Hewitt | 14 | at Campbell (11-30-13) |
| Free Throw Attempts | T-7th | Tre Bussey | 14 | Samford (1-4-14) |
| Free Throw Percentage | T-5th | Jelani Hewitt | 100% | at N.C. A&T (12-28-13) |
| Steals | 2nd | Jelani Hewitt | 7 | Toccoa Falls (11-16-13) |
| SINGLE SEASON (DIVISION I ERA) | |||
| Category | Place | Name | Total |
| Points | 2nd | Jelani Hewitt | 660 |
| Scoring Average | 10th | Jelani Hewitt | 19.4 |
| 3-PT FGs Made | 6th | Jelani Hewitt | 85 |
| 3-PT FG Attempts | 4th | Jelani Hewitt | 236 |
| Free Throws Made | 1st | Jelani Hewitt | 153 |
| Free Throws Attempted | 2nd | Jelani Hewitt | 184 |
| Free Throw Percentage | 6th | Jelani Hewitt | .832 |
| Steals | 3rd | Jelani Hewitt | 75 |
| CAREER (DIVISION I ERA) | |||
| Category | Place | Name | Total |
| Points (All-Time) | 25th | Jelani Hewitt | 1,264 |
| Points (D-I Era) | 16th | Jelani Hewitt | 1,264 |
| Points (All-Time) | 31st | Tre Bussey | 1,206 |
| Points (D-I Era) | 18th | Tre Bussey | 1,206 |
| Rebounds | 12th | Marvin Baynam | 555 |
| 3-PT Field Goals | T-6th | Jelani Hewitt | 181 |
| 3-PT Field Goals | 10th | Tre Bussey | 155 |
| 3-PT FG Attempts | 5th | Jelani Hewitt | 502 |
| 3-PT FG Attempts | 7th | Tre Bussey | 426 |
| 3-PT FG Percentage | 7th | Tre Bussey | .361 |
| 3-PT FG Percentage | T-8th | Jelani Hewitt | .364 |
| Free Throw Percentage | 2nd | Jelani Hewitt | .802 |
| Steals | 3rd | Jelani Hewitt | 175 |
| CLASS RECORDS | ||||
| Category | Class | Place | Name | Total |
| Scoring | Senior | 5th | Tre Bussey | 551 |
| Scoring | Junior | 1st | Jelani Hewitt | 660 |
| Field Goals Made | Junior | 5th | Jelani Hewitt | 211 |
| Field Goal Attempts | Junior | 1st | Jelani Hewitt | 520 |
| Free Throws Made | Junior | 1st | Jelani Hewitt | 153 |
| Free Throws Attempted | Junior | 1st | Jelani Hewitt | 184 |
| Free Throw Percentage | Junior | 5th | Jelani Hewitt | .832 |
| 3-PT Field Goals | Junior | 2nd | Jelani Hewitt | 85 |
| 3-PT FG Attempts | Junior | 2nd | Jelani Hewitt | 236 |
| Steals | Junior | 1st | Jelani Hewitt | 75 |
| TEAM RECORDS | ||
| Category | Place | Total |
| Total Points | 3rd | 2,406 |
| Rebounds | 4th | 1,187 |
| Field Goals Attempted | 10th | 1,927 |
| Free Throws | 4th | 484 |
| Free Throws Attempted | 3rd | 731 |
| 3-PT Field Goals | 1st | 242 |
| 3-PT FGs Attempted | 1st | 716 |
ALL-SOCON EAGLES
Jelani Hewitt and Tre Bussey earned All-SoCon honors for the first time in their careers. The duo joined an exclusive club of 20 Georgia Southern student-athletes to be named All-SoCon. It was just the second time in the last six seasons that two Eagles have picked up All-SoCon honors.
LEAGUE LEADER IN SCORING
Jelani Hewitt led the Eagles with 19.6 points per game as the redshirt-junior made a triumphant return to the hardwood after missing the 2012-13 season. He scored over 20 points on 19 occasions and posted 10+ points in 31 and 34 contests. It was the second-straight season that a player coached by Mark Byington has earned their league's scoring title. Last season Virginia Tech's Erick Green averaged 25.0 ppg to lead the ACC.
EAGLES EXCELL IN THE CLASSROOM AS WELL
Georgia Southern's excellence on the court was amplified by the fact that the Men's Basketball Team posted the program's best-ever fall semester GPA. That semester came on the heels of a spring semester where the Eagles posted their best single-semester GPA in program history.
ALL THIS WITH JUST NINE SCHOLARSHIPS
Georgia Southern's success came despite the fact that the team finished the season with just nine scholarship players seeing game action. The remainder of the scholarships were being used by players that missed the season due to injury or left the program midseason.
NEXT STOP, SUN BELT
On July 1, 2014 Georgia Southern will officially join the Sun Belt Conference. The Eagles will be full members on the hardwood from the start, eligible for the 2015 tournament immediately. The 2015 Tournament will be held at New Orleans' Lakefront Arena, located less than six miles north of the famed French Quarter on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.
ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
The 2014-15 Eagles will have the rare distinction of having three players that have earned All-Conference honors. Jelani Hewitt was named All-SoCon this season by the league's coaches and media. Eric Ferguson was named All-SoCon in 2012 and 2013. Trent Wiedeman was a consensus All-SoCon selection in 2011-12 at College of Charleston. Both Ferguson and Wiedeman were named SoCon All-Freshman in 2010-11.
HIGHLIGHTS OF WHAT'S COMING BACK:
SCORING
The 2014-15 Eagles will feature the leading scorer from each of the last three seasons. Jelani Hewitt and Eric Ferguson have combined for over 2,500 career points and rank 25th and 27th on the Georgia Southern all-time scoring chart. That duo is flanked by Trent Wiedeman who has 893 points to his name.
REBOUNDING
In the rebounding phase of the game, Georgia Southern will feature three of its four top-rebounders from the 2013-14 season. Angel Matias had 227 rebounds this season while Kyle Doyle (164) and Jelani Hewitt (151) will also return to the lineup. Trent Wiedeman has 650 career rebounds while Eric Ferguson has 594 career boards.
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.
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