Friday, February 10, 2006

Macon, Ga. -- Mercer and Stetson square off yet again in tonight's A-Sun/CSS Men's Basketball Game of the Week. The Hatters and Bears will take the court at 7:00 pm for tip-off. Barry Milligan will call play-by-play action and Sonny Smith will provide color anaylsis.

The Bears claimed an 82-81 overtime victory earlier this season in DeLand, with junior guard Ross Alacqua coming off the bench to lead the Bears with 18 points, hitting four three-pointers and going a perfect 6-6 from the line. Forward Will Emerson notched his fourth double-double of the season as he poured in 14 points to go along with 14 boards. He only needs 43 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Mercer has won four straight and six of the last seven contests with the Hatters and swept last season’s regular-season series, winning the conference opener, 89-76, both games were decided in the final possession.

Stetson started the 2005-06 campaign slowly, dropping 16 of its first 18 contests, but since falling to the Bears in overtime on Jan. 24, the Hatters have won four out of their last five games, including an impressive 74-71 win in overtime on the road over current league-leader East Tennessee State. In its most recent outing, Stetson knocked off Lipscomb, 85-67, toppling the Bisons from the top spot in the conference. The Hatters rank 11th in the conference in scoring, at 65.4 points per game, but are second in the A-Sun defensively, holding opponents to 71.3 points a contest. Stetson also boasts the league’s second-best shooting percentage from the charity stripe (74.9%).

While the Hatters are being outrebounded by nearly five boards a game, they take care of the ball - ranking second in the league in turnover margin (+2.13) Stetson seniors E. J. Gordon (14.5 ppg) and Anthony Register (13.7 ppg.) rank 18th and 19th, respectively in scoring in the A-Sun, while the duo reverses rankings from the charity stripe, with Register shooting an impressive 82.4 percent and Gordon shoots 75.3 percent. Register also is second, averaging 2.22 steals.

Friday, 7:00 pm (ET)
Stetsosn (6-17, 5-9)
at Mercer (6-15, 5-10)
University Center
Macon, Ga.
All-Time Series Record: Stetson 64-38
Television -- CSS
Stetson Radio -- Hatter SportsNet
Mercer Radio -- Website

Stetson Hatters (6-17, 5-9 A-Sun)
	Team Roster	Team Stats	Team Results

Mercer Bears (6-15, 5-10 A-Sun)
	Team Roster	Team Stats	Team Results