GSU, Wofford battle for bye

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When Charlton Young was hired as head basketball coach at Georgia Southern he talked about playing meaningful games in February.
It?s taken three years, but the moment has arrived. The Eagles will be looking to solidify their hold on second place in the Southern Conference?s South Division, and a first- round SoCon tournament bye that goes with it when they play defending conference champion Wofford at 7 tonight at Hanner Fieldhouse.
GSU (11-12, 9-4) is riding a three-game win streak against the Terriers (15-10, 8-5), who have lost their last two, but own an 88-63 win over GSU earlier this season.
Facts and Figures: It?s ?White Out? night and fans are urged to wear white. The first 300 fans will receive a free T-shirt. The Eagles? largest crowd of the season is 3,025 against College of Charleston.




Notable: Ben Drayton ranks second among active SoCon players with 1,411 career points, three behind Harounta Mutombo of Western Carolina. Jelani Hewitt is averaging 18.3 points per game in his last four games.
Players to Watch: GSU ? 6-7 F Eric Ferguson 15.4 ppg., 7.2 rpg; 5-10 G Ben Drayton 11.8 ppg; 6-2 G Willie Powers 10.8 ppg, 5.5 apg., 6-2 G Jelani Hewitt 10.9 ppg. Wofford ? 6-6 G Kevin Giltner 15.2 ppg., 4.3 rpg.; 6-0 G Brad Loesing 14.6 ppg.; 6-1 G Karl Cochran 11.5 ppg., 4.8 rpg.

 

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Terriers travel to Georgia Southern, eye second place




The Southern Conference basketball tournament doesn't begin for a few more weeks, but Wofford's chances to win a third straight could hinge on tonight's game at Georgia Southern.

Wofford and GSU are battling for second place in the South Division, a position which comes with a first-round bye in the tournament. No team has ever won without it. The Terriers trail the Eagles by a game in the standings and with a loss would be two back with only four left to play.

?Let's win Thursday at Georgia Southern. That's all that matters,? Wofford head coach Mike Young said. ?The other stuff will take care of itself.?

Georgia Southern (11-12, 9-4) will play host at 7 p.m. to Wofford (15-10, 8-5) in the Hanner Fieldhouse.

?We're coming down the home stretch of the race,? GSU head coach Charlton Young said. ?We're fighting tooth-and-nail to try to get the second spot. Obviously, Davidson (18-5, 12-1) has got one heck of a hold on the first spot. So we're hoping we can at least get the second spot and the bye for the tournament.?

Wofford was in the same position last season. The Terriers, after a Feb. 9 loss to Davidson, were in third place. They trailed College of Charleston and Furman with only four league games remaining but won all of those, starting against Georgia Southern, to earn the bye. They won three in the tournament to claim back-to-back championships.

?There are still a lot of things that are going to happen,? Mike Young said. ?We need to keep grinding and hanging in there. A lot of things will shake out. There's one month until the Southern Conference final. I still think we've got as good of a shot as anybody to make it there.?

Wofford demolished Georgia Southern, 88-63, on Jan. 14 to begin a six-game winning streak. But the Eagles got hot after that and have won five of six, including a third in a row Monday night at home against Furman. The Terriers have lost back-to-back games against Samford in overtime and Davidson.

?That game we played against (Georgia Southern) a few weeks back is completely irrelevant,? Young said. ?I'm not sure how much of it we can use in our preparation for Thursday. We'll have to fight like dogs to win down there. ? They're a different animal in Statesboro and historic Hanner Fieldhouse.?

The tiebreaker between two teams is determined by head-to-head meetings, then how each fared against division opponents from the top down. Georgia Southern still has games remaining against the College of Charleston (6-7) and Davidson. The Eagles split with Furman (6-7). The Terriers, meanwhile, have beaten Charleston twice, won at Furman and finishes the regular season at home against that team.

?They're the two-time defending champions. They carry themselves in that manner,? Charlton Young said. ?I have a lot of respect for the program. I've been really impressed with their senior leaders, (Brad) Loesing and (Kevin) Giltner. Those two kids have flat out earned my respect. Mike Young and his staff have always had my respect. Trust me. We're preparing around the clock for that game.?