Men’s basketball will face Georgia Southern in October exhibition

By Justin Gray | Sports writer

At the start of every college basketball season, teams play an exhibition game to knock the rust off and play in front of a crowd before they play the contests that matter.

This season the Augusta University men’s basketball team will travel down U.S. 25 to Statesboro to take on Georgia Southern at Hanner Fieldhouse on Friday, Oct. 20. The tipoff time has not been determined yet.

This will be the 23rd matchup between the two teams and the first since 2005 when the Jaguars lost 90-58. The last win in the series for Augusta was in 1990, with the Jaguars taking the game 69-67.

Taking on an NCAA Division I program will be a tall task for the Jaguars, but it will benefit them getting ready for the season. Exhibitions may not count towards the record, but it is a great way to see where the team stands because you can’t tell until the lights come on and you’re playing some besides your teammates. Head Coach Dip Metress is excited to take on Georgia Southern.

“It will be good for our guys to see someone else and see where we stand when there are fans in the stands,” said Metress.

The Jaguars lost a big senior class, including the conference’s leading scorer and NABC Division II All-American, Tyshaun Crawford, who led them to a 27-6 record last season and a PBC Championship. Crawford had started his career at Georgia Southern before transferring to AU, where he became one of the top players in D2.

Returning only six players from last season’s team, the Jaguars will need some players to step up and be leaders. One of those guys who can do that is senior David Viti, who has been in the program for the last two seasons and appeared in every game last season.

Like Crawford, Viti began his career at Georgia Southern, so he is excited to get a chance to play against the Eagles.

"It'll be fun because there's a little bit of history behind it,” said Viti. “A lot of my best moments of my basketball career came at Georgia Southern. I think I had my career high while I was there. You know it's exciting to go back to where my career took off and a place that was home for me. Even with it being different coaches, it'll still be good to see some of the people and staff that work at Hanner Fieldhouse."

With this being Viti’s senior season, he also wants to “have no regrets and hopefully bring home some more hardware to add to the collection” at AU.

Viti will be a major part of the success this team has this season and once everyone gels together, it could be another special season at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

AU Athletic Director Ryan Erlacher believes in playing bigger universities.

“I encourage our Division II programs to schedule exhibitions against DI opponents,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase our teams and a great experience for our student-athletes. Our teams are nationally competitive, and we feel we can go toe to toe with anyone in the country.”

Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.

AU Coach Dip Metress thinks playing Georgia Southern will help his team see where they are in the Jaguars’ development after the graduating of four highly successful seniors in Tyshaun Crawford, Tyree Myers, Miguel Arnold and Darren Lucas-White. At the top of the page, David Viti is excited to play the Eagles; Viti started his career at GSU before transferring to AU. (Bell Ringer staff photos)