Monday, December 05, 2005

Macon, Ga. – Ronell Wooten put together consecutive 20-point games as Kennesaw State won their first two Atlantic Sun Conference games to earn A-Sun Player of the Week honors.

Wooten averaged 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals in impressive home wins over Lipscomb and Belmont over the weekend. In the two games, the guard shot a blistering .630 from the floor (17-of-27) and an equally sizzling .625 from three-point range (10-of-16).

Versus Lipscomb, Kennesaw State would not lead until the final seconds of the game. Wooten would drain four of five three-point attempts in the final 10 minutes of the contest to keep the Owls within striking distance for the last second comeback. On Saturday, the Statesboro, Ga., native buried 6-of-7 attempts from beyond the three-point line and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. His career-high 27 points gave Kennesaw State a 91-87 victory over Belmont and a surprising 2-0 start in conference play. The Owls, picked 10th in the preseason, quickly put the league’s preseason polls in doubt with the two victories. Wooten is majoring in Sports Management.

The Atlantic Sun Conference hands out Player of the Week awards weekly during the 2005 soccer campaign.

The 11-member league headquartered in Macon, Ga., consists of Belmont, Campbell, ETSU, Florida Atlantic, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, North Florida and Stetson.

OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
· DeAndre Rice, Florida Atlantic (Jr. - G – Flint, Mich. - Sociology Major)
Rice averaged 25.5 points in a pair of conference victories over JU and UNF including a career-high 29 points versus the Dolphins.

· Josh Goodwin, Belmont (Jr. - G - Pegram, Tenn. - Nursing Major)
Matched an Atlantic Sun Conference record with 11 three-pointers at ETSU, scoring 39 points (the most in the league since 2002-03).

· Ruell Pringle, Campbell (So. - G – Virginia Beach, Va. – Business Administration Major)
Pringle led Campbell to its first 2-0 conference start since 1996-97 by averaging 18.5 points in a pair of A-Sun games.

· Simon Conn, Gardner-Webb (Sr. - C – Melbourne, Australia – Business Administration Major)
Averaged 19.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg while combining for 26 second half points in wins at Minnesota and versus Stets.