HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College men's basketball team will be taking on the Eagles of Carson-Newman University on Saturday (Jan. 17) at 4 p.m. in the friendly confines of the DeLoach Center. Live stats and broadcast will be available via www.cokercobras.com.

The Cobras will be looking to repeat past successes against the Eagles. Coker earned victories at home and in the quarterfinals of the SAC tournament last season over Carson-Newman.

The DeLoach Center has been kind to Coker as of late. They are 4-3 at home this season including back-to-back wins in Hartsville by more than 15 points.

Errick Bethel has continued his lethal scoring ways as he is now the leading scorer in the South Atlantic Conference averaging 19.4 points per game. Donte Samuels checks in averaging 11.2 points per game. Defensively the Navy and Yellow are headed by the duo of Trey James and Jalen Watson. James is averaging 7.5 rebounds a game after his second 16-rebound performance last time out against Catawba, while Watson is averaging six a game. Both are inside the top 11 in the SAC.

The Eagles come to Hartsville sporting a 7-8 overall record and are 5-4 in conference play after a road win over Brevard. They are led by Carson Brooks and Jared Johnson who are averaging 14.7 and 14.1 points per game. Carson-Newman will be tough team to defend, as they have three players in the top five in field-goal shooting percentage in the SAC.

Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 17) at the DeLoach Center, immediately following the women's game which begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for reserved seats, $5 dollars for adults, $3 dollars for students, and free for all Coker students, faculty and staff.

Story by Aaron Beebe '15 sports information department intern