STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern welcomes UL Lafayette to Hanner Fieldhouse for the first time in series history for one of the most anticipated contests in recent memory for the Eagles. Tipoff for the contest is set for 7:30 p.m. with video streaming available on GS All-Access at GSEagles.com. Georgia Southern has won three-straight games entering Thursday's game including two-straight games shooting at or above 50% from the field.

Reserved and general admission tickets are available by contacting the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GSU-WINS. Student tickets are free with free popcorn available for the first 150 students at the concession stand. Free t-shirts will be available for students while supplies last. Two lucky students in attendance will win $1,000 courtesy of the Georgia Lottery. Students will have to be at the game to learn how they can win.

DATE: Thursday, January 15th, 2015
TIME: 7:30 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
Savannah/Hilton Head/Brunswick – 102.1 WZAT-FM
Jessup – 1370 WLOP-AM
Worldwide – GS All-Access
LIVE STATS: GSEagles.com
TWITTER UPDATES: @GSAthletics_MBB 

SERIES HISTORY: GS Trails 1-2
LAST MEETING: 12-19-1992 | Away | Loss | 82-107

GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES (10-3, 3-1 Sun Belt)
Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | Media Guide | Game Notes

UL LAFAYETTE RAGIN' CAJUNS (10-5, 4-0 Sun Belt)
Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | Media Guide | Game Notes

HEWITT MOVES INTO TOP-10
Jelani Hewitt continued his move up the Georgia Southern career scoring chart, moving into the top-10 in the win over South Alabama on January 10th. He has 1,527 career points and needs 54 more to reach Louis Graham's ninth place total of 1,581.

DIAMOND DOUBLES-UP
Curtis Diamond had a big game at Arkansas State, tallying 12 points off the bench with 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. He grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the game and for a new career-high in rebounds, doubling his previous career high of five.

ONE OF THE BEST NON-CONFERENCE SEASONS
Georgia Southern's 7-2 non-conference start ranks as the second-best non-conference season in program history.

Pl.        Year                 Record            Pct.      Notes
1.         1984-85           12-1                 .923     TAAC Regular Season Champs
2.         2014-15           7-2                   .778     ???
            2003-04           7-2                   .778     -
4.         1992-93           6-2                   .778     -
5.         1988-89           7-3                   .700     NIT Appearance
            1987-88           7-3                   .700     NIT Appearance

FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED SINCE 1987
Georgia Southern's 40-36 win over Texas State was the fewest points allowed by the Eagle defense since a 67-34 win over Savannah State on December 5th, 1987. It is the first 40-36 game in the shot clock era and ranks in a tie for 19th lowest scoring game for both teams combined, and the lowest scoring Sun Belt game in the shot clock era. The contest is the lowest combined scoring game since January 14th, 1950 when J.B. Searce's Eagles defeated the Erskine Flying Fleet 39-36.

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..................................5,576 mi.
2014-15 total season mileage..................12,283 mi.
2013-14 total season mileage....................9.216 mi.

GEORGIA STATE PICKED UP ON WSAV BASKETBALL BLITZ
For the second-straight season, Georgia Southern will have a home game broadcast on the WSAV Basketball Blitz. The games will air on the WSAV MyLC channel in the Savannah/Hilton Head market. The channel is available over the air at 3.2, DirecTV 29, BTC Communications 7, Bulloch Co-Op 6, Comcast 237, Darrien Communications 104, Hargay CATV 100, Kennedy Cablevision 104, Northland-Statesboro 7, Northland-Vidalia 12, Pineland Cable 60, and Time Warner 1215.

THE COACH
Head Coach Mark Byington enters this game with a 32-26 career record with a 25-22 mark at Georgia Southern in his second season in Statesboro.

THE WEATHER
Thursday will be another day of overcast skies with rain likely in the afternoon with highs in the mid-50s and lows in the 30s.

UP NEXT
Following Thursday's game against UL Lafayette, the Eagles are back on the road for three-straight games. Georgia Southern visits Troy on Saturday afternoon at 5:15 p.m. (ET). Next week the Eagles visit Texas State and UL Monroe.

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.