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2/25/2008 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
This Week in A-Sun Basketball
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This Week in A-Sun Men's Basketball
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A-Sun Game of the Week
Friday, February 29
Kennesaw State at Mercer
University Center/Macon, Ga.
7:30pm 
CSS’s regular-season coverage of the Atlantic Sun wraps up with a Peach State battle between Kennesaw State and Mercer. The Bears opened conference play with a 77-75 overtime win at Kennesaw State on January 3. The Owls’ Tanner Jacobs grabbed 18 rebounds in this game, 14 of which were offensive boards. His teammate, Shuan Stegall pulled down 17 rebounds of his own. These two come into the finale heading in different directions. The Owls have won three of their last four while the Bears have lost three straight and seven of nine. The Bears feature the top scoring tandem in the league in sophomore James Florence and senior Shaddean Aaron. Florence averages 19.3 points per game, second in the league, while Aaron averages 16.4 points per game. Their combined average ranks over 2.0 points per game better than the next highest-socring set of teammates (Campbell’s Jonathan Rodriguez and Reggie Bishop). Since Kennesaw State joined the A-Sun, two of the meetings with Mercer has gone to overtime, including this year’s prior meeting. Four of the five contests have been decided by single digits. The game can also be seen on ASun.TV.
A-Sun Notables
CHASE FOR THE TITLE DOWN TO TWO
Entering the final week of conference play, two teams remain alive in winning the regular-season title. Belmont leads with a mark of 12-2, one game ahead of Jacksonville. The Bruins would clinch the top seed in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championships with one win or one Jacksonville loss due to owning the head-to-head tiebreaker. Belmont has never won an outright regularseason title; Jacksonville has never won an outright nor shared an A-Sun regular-season title. Of note, the number one seed has not won the A-Sun tournament since Georgia State in 2001 and have lost in the final in five of the last six tournaments.
HARE RISING UP THE CHARTS
With 14 points vs rival Lipscomb, Belmont’s Justin Hare passed E.J. Gordon for 10th on the Atlantic Sun’s all-time scoring list. Hare has scored 1,693 points in his illustrious career, two more than Gordon. Up next for Hare, UALR’S James Scott, who scored 1,731 points from 1987-1991.
UNF CROSS ANOTHER OFF ITS “BUCKET LIST”
One wek after ending its 20-game losing streak, UNF won its first conference game of the season, winning in its final home game, defeating Mercer 70-61. Stan Januska led all scorers in the game with 18 points and James Grimball recorded his 14th career double- double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The win allowed the Ospreys to avoid becoming the first winless team in A-Sun play since Campbell went 0-20 in 2004-05.
ETSU IMPROVES TO 3-0 IN BRACKETBUSTERS
After two years away from the series, ETSU won its third O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters game, defeating in-state foe Tennessee Tech 88-80 at the Memorial Center. Kevin Tiggs and Travis Strong each scored 20 points in the win. ETSU defeated Fresno State in 2004 by the score of 66-62 in 2004 and Austin Peay in 2005, 85-81 in its prior BracketBusters games.
PAYNE REACHES CENTURY MARK
In his sixth year in Spartanburg, S.C., USC Uptate head coach Eddie Payne won his 100th game at the school. He earned the win by leading the Spartans to a 21-point win at Campbell. Payne’s son, Luke led the way in that game with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, 4-for-8 from the 3-point arc.
A-Sun Players of the Week
Thomas Sanders, GWU (Senior - Forward - Sugarland, Texas. - Social Sciences)
