Before Saturday, the road was hard enough for the Georgia Southern Eagles.

When the weekend’s weather caused delays, changes in plans and illness, it certainly didn’t help the cause for GSU, which hasn’t won on the road yet this season and has a losing streak of 23 games - in gyms not called Hanner Fieldhouse - dating back to January 15, 2009.

When the Eagles’ bus got snowed in at Columbia, S.C. on the way to Appalachian State Friday, it sealed the deal, especially considering the handful of players who got sick in the process.

“The game was lost before we even got on the bus,” said GSU coach Charlton Young about Saturday’s 111-83 loss to the Mountaineers. “We didn’t have a chance to practice because we had to jump on the bus and try to beat the storm. We didn’t beat the storm, wound up having to spend the night in Columbia. We ate breakfast and had to drive three, three-and-a-half hours to App State. We didn’t have a hotel there so we had to hang out at the gym. Basically, we played like a group of guys who didn’t have a chance to practice.”

The good news for GSU is that it plays the next two at home.

“Being home heals a lot for us,” Young said. “The most important thing for us is to protect our home court.”

The bad news is that the Eagles (6-20, 3-10 Southern Conference) face Furman and Wofford in those games, two teams that beat GSU by a combined 140-102 in January.

Furman’s Amu Saaka, a junior small forward, dropped 16 points against the Eagles, which also happens to be his team-leading season average. Stopping Saaka, who came to the Paladins (12-13, 6-8) by way of South Florida, will be the key for Georgia Southern when tonight’s game tips off at 7 p.m. in Hanner.

“He makes them go,” said Young. “He has tremendous size for his position. He’s what we called a ‘high-major’ player when we were at (Georgia) Tech. He’s a Big East transfer, and he presents some problems in this conference.”

With the SoCon Tournament looming just three weeks away, the Eagles hope to find the consistency that has been lacking for quite some time. They beat Arkansas-Fort Smith and Troy consecutively at Hanner back on Nov. 28 and 29, but haven’t put together a winning streak against all Division I opponents since they beat Wofford and Furman in Statesboro on Jan. 22 and 24 of 2009.

“We’ve got to drive for five,” Young said. “We’ve got five left, we’ve got two road games left. We’ve got to put four or five together before the tournament.”

Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.