January 20, 2010 Alex Brown Tailgate Tattler

abrown6182@yahoo.com

    Times are tough in Eagle basketball land.
    This was the stretch of games that both the guys and ladies needed to use to pick up a head of steam and gain some much needed ground in the conference standings. Instead, both squads are in the midst of crippling slumps which could lead to both teams fighting a steep uphill battle come March.
    The Lady Eagles have done their part in keeping fans’ fingernails painfully short as they played four down-to-the-wire games in a row before Monday night’s lopsided home loss to Davidson. In the first four games of January, the ladies went 2-2 and not one of those games was decided by more than four points.
    On Saturday, the Lady Eagles traveled to Wofford with hopes of building on an overtime win over Furman last Monday. After stretching the lead to double digits in the second half, Wofford battled back and drew within two points with just over a minute left, but Georgia Southern held on to win 58-56. Carolyn Whitney led the Lady Eagles with 15 points.
    Davidson came to town Monday evening and jumped on the Lady Eagles early. Georgia Southern fought back and pulled to within three points midway through the second half, but they wouldn’t get any closer as the Lady Wildcats pulled away to a 68-50 win.
    The loss drops the Lady Eagles to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in the conference. Southern is currently tied with UNC Greensboro for sixth place in the SoCon. The top five seeds earn a first round bye, so the ladies need to make up some ground unless they want to make it hard on themselves come tournament time. Next up for the Lady Eagles is a trip to Elon this Saturday afternoon.
    In men’s action, the Eagles appeared to take a huge step forward last Saturday by defeating first place Western Carolina, but took two giant steps back this past weekend in upstate South Carolina. Thursday night saw the Eagles dig themselves into an early hole at Wofford trailing by 14 at halftime. The Terriers went on to win 71-57.
    Things got worse on Saturday at Furman. With the game tied 6-6 early on, the Paladins went on a 26-6 scoring run that lasted most of the first half and extended the Furman lead to 32-12. The Eagles never recovered and went on to fall 69-45. Georgia Southern shot just 24-percent and were outrebounded 54-32. With the loss, the Eagles are now 4-15 overall and just 1-5 in SoCon play.
    On the bright side, the Eagles play their next four games at home. This is good news because Georgia Southern hasn’t won a road game in over a year. Seriously. A full calendar year. Ouch.
    This Saturday, the Davidson Wildcats visit Hanner. And this Davidson team isn’t quite the one we are accustomed to seeing. There is no Stephen Curry. Thankfully, he’s in the NBA now. The Wildcats are 8-10 on the season, but this is still Davidson and they are still very talented. It’s going to take a Western Carolina game-like effort for the Eagles to pull off the win, but as the Eagle Nation well knows, Georgia Southern is capable of just about anything inside Hanner Fieldhouse--especially when there’s a rowdy crowd behind them.
    So bring yourself and everybody you know to Hanner this Saturday. Our Eagles need you. Plus, this Saturday is the annual Hanner Hooligan Tailgate featuring free hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, chili and cokes. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. in the Hanner parking lot beside the tennis courts with tip-off set for 2 p.m. inside Hanner.

Print

E-Mail Story

News Letter Sign up

« Previous Story | Next Story »