THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University Men's basketball program is on the road this weekend, traveling to Lakeland, Fla. to face nationally-ranked Southeastern University Thursday night before continuing on to southwest Florida to take on Ave Maria Saturday afternoon in a pair of SUN Conference games.
 
The Night Hawks (9-10, 3-6 SUN) began the new year making a strong statement, upsetting conference preseason favorite Warner University before going on to defeat Webber International a few days later.  Since January 9th, the Green & White have only played twice, against teams that were arguably winnable contests in Coastal Georgia and Keiser.  A pair of wins would have put TU one game out of second place in the conference.  Instead, the Night Hawks now sit one and a half games out of playoff contention in seventh, with trips to schools that rank in the top three in SUN.
 
While Thomas' scoring defense allowed an average of 73 points between its last two games, the offense has struggled, averaging 59 points between the Mariners and the Seahawks.  Despite the game results, the Night Hawks continue to adjust to return to top form.  Since the New Year, Senior Guard Jordan Booker displayed shades of last season's performance, averaging 6.5 steals in the previous four contests and 4.3 assists in the last three games.  Junior Justin Figueroa is now two games in since returning to the court from injury, shooting .333 from the floor.
 
#18 Southeastern (1/27)
To say the Fire (18-3, 8-1 SUN) has been ablaze this season is an understatement, as SEU rides a seven-game win streak into Thursday night's showdown.  In the team's previous three games, the majority of Southeastern's attempts were from long-range, taking 126 shots out of the total 206 from the field.  With the Red, Black & White's love for the 3-Ball and the team's shooting success from outside the perimeter, it is no wonder the SUN's top team leads NAIA in Made 3-pointers a Game (12.1).
 
Small Forward Riley Minix continues to be a dominant force on the court, as the junior comes off his sixth, SUN Player of the Week honors in a nine-week span.  Minix leads SUN in Points (23.0) and is second in the conference in Boards a Game (10.6).  Jordan Gorman has also become a scoring threat for the Fire, shooting just under 48% from long range.
 
Thursday will mark the team's 20th overall series meeting, with the Fire leading 11-8.  SEU defeated TU 76-65 in the Rose City earlier this season.
 
Tipoff at The Furnace is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  Fans unable to attend can follow the live action through the links below:
 
Live Stats
 
Live Video
 
vs. Ave Maria (1/29)
Since the team's last meeting with the Night Hawks, the Gyrenes (13-8, 6-4 SUN) have not been as explosive offensively.  Nevertheless, the Holy Queen's team has continued to keep consistency from the field, shooting .475 on the season.  As a result, games involving the Gyrenes have proven to be barnburners. 
 
Since the earlier matchup against TU, Ave Maria has gone 8-2 when scoring 75 or more points, but is 0-5 when scoring less than 75 in a game.  TU's scoring defense has held the Gyrenes to 70 points or less in the teams' last four overall meetings, with the Green & White limiting AMU to 67 points in November.
 
Daryl Lewis currently leads Ave Maria in scoring average (16.2) while Klajd Kiri is the team's rebounding leader (6.5).
 
Thomas will have another crack at breaking the AMU curse, as the Gyrenes hold a seven-game win streak over the Night Hawks.  Saturday's contest will mark the 18th overall meeting between the two teams, with Ave Maria leading the series 11-6.
 
Tipoff at the Golisano Fieldhouse is set for 4 p.m.  Fans unable to attend can follow the live action through the links below:
 
Live Stats
 
Live Video
 
For up-to-date information on games and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMBKB.