The Georgia Southern men’s basketball team are currently on top of the Sun Belt standings and have won nine-straight games as they are currently sitting at 12-5 overall and 4-0 in Sun Belt play. Eagle head coach Charlie Henry returned only one starter off of last year’s team but has done a great job putting together a team that are among the league leaders in eight different categories.

Henry had a feeling he knew what he was doing when he put the team together but admits things have clicked even quicker and better than he had hoped.

“You try to do your best, but you just really can never know for sure,” Henry said.  “I do think having conversations throughout the recruiting process can help. Talking about past experiences, people that have coached them in the past. Generally you know, if somebody was a great teammate at one place you’re probably going to come here and be a great teammate. We have a good group who really enjoy playing together and play for each other.”

Four Eagle players are currently averaging in double figures led by Spudd Webb at 16.5 points per game. Tyren Moore comes in at 13.1 ppg, Alden Applewhite 12.9 ppg and 6.2 rpg, and Nakavieon White at 10.7 ppg team.

“With Spudd, we knew we were getting a high character guy,” Henry said. “He’s a competitor and he's exceeded expectations in many ways. He's just kind of a little mismatch. He plays much bigger than he is because he's got really long arms and big hands and just gets it done with a kind of craftiness. He wants to win every day in practice. Anytime you have somebody like that, it helps elevate the group.” 

Moore returns having been a part of Henry’s first class. He spent last year at UAB but returned for his senior season.

"I think he's steadily gotten better throughout the year,” Henry said. "He’s getting in better shape and getting back to being comfortable. He's a really good guard that that doesn't have to dominate the ball. He really gets it out of his hands pretty quickly. I think anytime you have someone who doesn’t dominate the ball, I think that kind of just helps with our overall ball movement.”

Applewhite is currently leading the team in rebounding as well as being the third-leading scorer.

“I did not realize how quickly he would pick up on our offense and all the little things he does to kind of connect our offense,” Henry said. “I think he is probably underappreciated. I mean, he's huge piece of what we're doing. He's a little bit of a mismatch at the four because he can dribble past guys and shoot. Some of our other guys get emotional and get pretty worked up and reactional. He's really even keeled, and I think having that balance is important.”

The other player scoring in double figures is the lone returning starter Nakavieon White who is averaging just over 10 points per game.

“He is another guy who presents matchup problems,” Henry said. “He can not only score from outside but he draws a lot of fouls. He was solid last year and has taken on a little different role on this team but has done a great job of doing whatever is asked of him.”

The Eagles are not only shooting the ball well from behind the arc at over 33 percent, but they are also actually getting to the free throw line for a change. The Eagles have had over 30 free throw attempts in four-straight games and have scored 80 or more points in seven-straight games, which is the most since 1992.

“We did recruit some guys and obviously signed some guys that had high free throw rates,” Henry said. “Spudd was a high free throw rate guy, Tyren coming back was a high free throw rate guy. Dallas Gardner, who's not playing because he got hurt, but he was a high free throw rate guy as well. It was a concerted effort because in the first two years we really struggled getting to the line.”

The Eagles will head into the final contest of their three-game road stretch at South Alabama for a 1:00 start on Saturday.

"They are really good,” Henry said. “They are strictly a zone defense team which makes them a little unique. We've had a few days here to get ready for it which is nice because we didn't, didn't have that last year when we played them. They have Chaze Harris who is averaging over 16 points per game. He came from an NAIA school and is one of the better players in our league. They also have Adam Olsen who is also averaging 16 points per game. Richie Riley has kind of found the formula that works for them and we are going to have to go in there and play well.”