Atlantic Sun Notebook
by Amanda Breedlove
Jacksonville State: Though suffering back-to-back losses over the past two
weeks, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks have been able to maintain a firm standing at the top of the Atlantic Sun conference standings with a 6-2 record (1-0 A-Sun) this season. In their last game, on December 28, the Gamecocks travelled to East Lansing, Michigan for a tough match-up against the No. 15-ranked Michigan State Spartans. Though JSU’s Omar Barlett scored 15 points in the game, Michigan State
had four players score in double-figures, including Chris Hill, who led the
Spartans with 14. Nearly 15,000 fans were in attendance as Michigan State earned the win, 76-52 behind 62.5 percent shooting (15-of-24) over the final 20 minutes. This was MSU’s (8-2) 36th consecutive win over a non-conference opponent. The Gamecocks will return home this weekend as conference play heat ups. Jacksonville State will play against Atlantic Sun opponent Campbell University (3-5, 0-0) on January 4.
Troy State: Marcus Millhouse led the Troy State Trojans with 13 points, but
their effort fell short
as Auburn’s Marquis Daniels scored 38 points to lead Auburn to a 94-66 win
over Troy State
in the final round of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico on December 22.
The two teams
went head-to-head in the championship after both advanced to the final round
with two wins apiece
in the tournament, but Troy State saw poor shooting in the game and hit a
season-low five 3-pointers
in the loss. The Trojans beat Northeastern 89-72 in the first round before
defeating Duquesne
73-69 in the second round to advance to the finals. Troy State, now 8-3,
will open conference
play at Jacksonville on January 4.
Central Florida: The Golden Knights dropped to 7-4 last week after suffering
a 62-51 loss at home
to Miami on December 27. UCF committed a season-high 25 turnovers and shot
38 percent from the field
in the game as the Hurricanes claimed the win. Ray
Abellard led the Golden Knights with 12 points. The Golden Knights meet the
Owls of Florida
Atlantic University on January 4 at home for the opening of A-Sun play.
Mercer: Mercer’s three-game winning-streak was snapped as the Bears suffered
a 86-74 loss
to the Crimson of Harvard (7-2) on December 19. Mercer, which was led in
scoring by Clarence
Baker with 17 points, falls to 4-3 this season. The Bears also had two
others score in double-
figures, including Delmar Wilson, who had 16 points and Scott Emerson who
scored 15. Harvard
used 53.4 percent shooting for the night to mount its fifth-straight win.
Prior to the loss,
the Bears had rallied to three straight wins–over Reinhardt, Georgia
Southern and Morris Brown.
They will return to action on January 2 against Savannah State before
traveling to meet
conference opponent Stetson on January 4.
Samford: The Bulldogs skidded to their fourth loss and fell to 4-6
as they suffered a
74-51 loss at South Alabama (6-4) on December 28. Tyson Dorsey led Samford
with 12 points, but he and
his teammates could not answer South Alabama’s 48 percent second-half
shooting and two Jaguar players,
who scored 17 points apiece. The
Bulldogs also
committed a season-high 25 turnovers in the loss. Conference play opens for
Samford on January
4 in a home match-up against Belmont.
Campbell: Though they started off to a strong 2-1 start, the
Camels have now
lost four of their last five games and have dropped to a 3-5 record after
losing to High Point
on December 28. Though Campbell out-shot High Point 52.8 percent to 50
percent for the game, it
could not hold on and lost to the Panthers 79-76. The Camels’ Tarick
Johnson, the Atlantic
Sun Conference Player of the week, scored a game-high 26 points, while
the Panthers were led in scoring by Joe Knight with 21 points. Campbell will
resume play
on January 4 at Jacksonville State.
Florida Atlantic: Evan Burns scored a game-high 21 points for San Diego
State University as
the Aztecs defeated the FAU Owls 91-75 on December 28. The Owls have now
lost four in a row
as they drop to 4-7 on the season heading into conference play against
Central Florida on
January 4.
Georgia State: A disappointing five-game losing streak paces the Panthers as
they move
into play against Furman on January 2 and A-Sun foe Gardner-Webb on January
4. In its latest
game, Georgia State was defeated 80-75 by Charleston Southern on December
28. This was GSU’s
fourth-straight loss on-the-road, despite four Panthers scoring in
double-figures against
Charleston Southern, which shot 52 percent for the game.
Jacksonville: A 74-50 loss to Illinois State on December 18 left the
Jacksonville University
Dolphins with a 4-6 record heading into a long break. Though Jacksonville’s
James Daniels
led all scorers with 18 points, Illinois State, led in scoring by Vince
Greene (17 points),
was able to earn its first win of the season as it dominated second-half
play. The Dolphins
look to recover in its next game, a conference match-up against Troy State
on January 4.
Belmont: The Bruins snapped a four-game losing streak on December 29 with an
88-75 win
over LIU Brooklyn. Belmont now improves to 4-7 after being led to the win by
Steve Drabyn’s
23 points and Adam Sonn’s 17 rebounds. The Bruins will face
the Samford
Bulldogs in A-Sun action on January 4.
Gardner-Webb:The Bulldogs have not won a game since November 25 and fall to
1-9 after a
75-58 loss at West Virginia on December 29. Gardner-Webb will have a chance
to turn its
season around on January 4 against Georgia State.
Stetson: Derrick DeWitt scored a season-high 14 points and led Stetson to a
75-69 win
over New Hampshire on December 29. The win was the first of the season for
the Hatters,
who improve to 1-8. They will face Mercer on January 4.
