ROCK HILL, SC--Winthrop will close out its four-game road swing Tuesday night at Georgia before returning home for a New Year's Eve game against preseason favorite and defending champion UNC Asheville.  The Georgia game will tip off at 7 p.m. while the game against Asheville will begin at 4 p.m.

The Eagles (4-8) are looking to snap a two-game losing streak against a Georgia Bulldog team (7-5) that has won three straight games after dropping the previous four.  Winthrop and Georgia are meeting for the fifth time with the Bulldogs holding a 3-1 advantage in the series.  Winthrop claimed a 80-60 win over Georgia back in December of 2003 in Stegeman Coliseum. behind the performance of James Shuler.  Winthrop is 2-20 all-time against Southeastern Conference schools.  The other win came at Mississippi State in 2005. 

Senior guard Andre Jones will enter the Georgia game needing only five points to become the 19th player in Winthrop history to reach the coveted 1000 Point Club.  He leads the Eagles and ranks third in the Big South with his 18.3 scoring average.  He has reached double figures in all 12 games this season and is shooting 49 percent from the floor and 40 percent from behind the 3-point arc. 

Senior center George Valentine reached a career milestone at Western Michigan on Dec. 20 when he grabbed the 500th rebound of his career.  He now stands 12th on the all-time Winthrop rebound list and needs 26 more to pass Torrell Martin (525), and 47 to move past Ronnie Creamer (545) and his twin brother Donnie (546) into ninth place.  Senior guard Reggie Middleton is also closing in on the 1,000 point mark.  He enters the Georgia game with 921 points and came become the sixth player in Winthrop history to reach 1,000 points and over 300 assists.  He is now 10th on the Winthrop career assist list with 315.

When the Eagles return home for the first time since Dec. 11 to face UNC Asheville, they will be looking to improve their conference record to 2-1, but the task will be a tough one against a Bulldog team that returns the preseason player of the year in 6-2 senior guard Matt Dickey and 6-1 point guard John Primm. 

Plenty of tickets for the Dec. 31 game are available and can be purchased at the Winthrop Coliseum ticket window that opens at 3 p.m.on game day.