NEW ORLEANS – Georgia Southern will open play in the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship by taking on ULM Thursday, March 2, at 8:30 p.m. ET in the Pensacola Bay Center as the league released its tournament bracket tonight.

ULM topped the Eagles 72-59 Jan. 19 in Hanner Fieldhouse in their lone meeting in the regular season. The seventh-seeded Eagles and 10th-seeded Warhawks have played three times in the Sun Belt Tournament, and GS has won all three meetings.  The winner of Thursday's contest will take on second-seeded and preseason favorite Louisiana Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals.

All Eagle games at the championship will air on the GS Sports Network, and all games will be broadcast on ESPN+ except for the championship contest, which will air on ESPN2 Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m. ET.

Southern Miss won the regular-season title, Marshall took third and JMU finished fourth to round out the four teams that earned double byes into Saturday's quarterfinals. 
 
Tournament ticket books are available through the Georgia Southern ticket office for just $60 and give fans a chance to see every game in the tournament. That is a savings of $40 on face value.