STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern men's basketball team finished off its foreign tour with three wins and a host of memories to last a lifetime as the Eagles made their way back across the pond Monday.
"It was a tremendous trip that everyone was thankful and appreciative to be on," said head coach
Mark Byington. "Going to Madrid and Barcelona was a once-in-the-lifetime opportunity for most of us that our team will remember forever."
The Eagles topped a Madrid all-star team in their first contest July 31 with senior
Isaiah Crawley leading the way with 19 points and five rebounds, while junior
Trevion Lamar chipped in seven assists. GS had a few days of sightseeing before topping the Barcelona Pros 100-86 Aug. 2 behind 23 points and six boards from Crawley. Sophomores
Calvin Wishart and
Elijah McCadden tied for the team lead with five assists apiece.
The Eagles' final game of the tour came against an all-star team of Barcelona pros Aug. 3, a 106-83 victory. Wishart led the way with 22 points and five assists, and senior
Trey Dawkins led the team with 11 rebounds.
"The teams we played against were a mixture of professional players and gave us great games," said Byington. "I was happy with the way we played and that we were able to win all the games by double figures."
Off the court, GS took advantage of a number of tourist opportunities, including a bike Tour of Madrid, a tour of Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid Soccer Stadium), tour of Barcelona, tour of the Sagrada Familia and a boat cruise and BBQ. The Eagles capped their stay by attending the Barcelona vs. Arsenal soccer match Aug. 4.
"The people of Spain were very hospitable and welcoming," said Byington. "I wanted our team to get better at basketball, experience and learn about other cultures and grow closer together. We definitely accomplished all three of those."
The Eagles return 68 percent of their scoring and 69 percent of their rebounding in 2019-20.
Ike Smith, who received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to compete this season, enters the year ranked 13th on the school's career Division I scoring list. He needs 21 points and eight rebounds to become the fifth Eagle with 1,500 career points and 500 rebounds.
Quan Jackson, an All-Sun Belt selection a season ago, is back and enters his junior campaign 309 points shy of 1,000.
The 2019-20 schedule is nearing completion. The Eagles renewed a long-time series with local rival Mercer last season, and the Bears are set to visit Hanner Fieldhouse, along with Radford, which shared the Big South regular-season title. Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina will visit Statesboro for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign as part of home-and-home Sun Belt series as the conference schedule expands to 20 games for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
The season ticket renewal deadline is Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019, and season tickets not renewed and paid in full by the renewal deadline will be released to the general public. Season tickets for the 2019-20 season start at $100 for general admission seating and $140 for reserved seats. Tickets can be purchased at GSEagles.com/tickets.
