Thursday, March 02, 2006

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Sixth-seeded Stetson pulled off the only surprise in first-round action of the 2006 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball Championship on Thursday in Memorial Center by recording a mild upset of No. 3 Florida Atlantic.

The Hatters beat the Owls 54-44. The upset was in seeding only. Stetson has now won nine straight games. Anthony Register had 20 to lead all scorers and pace Stetson. E.J. Gordon added 14 more.

The Hatters took the lead early in the game and never looked back. A lead that hovered around six to eight points in the first half grew to double digits just before the break and stayed there the rest of the way.

On a 3-pointer from Paul Graham and a quick jumper by DeAndre Rice, the Owls trimmed their deficit to 24-20 with 2:30 left before halftime.

Gordon made two free throws and Register added two baskets – including a 3-pointer with :25 seconds remaining to push the lead to 11 by the break. That momentum continued into the second half. Five different players got on the board for the Hatters in the first nine minutes and Gabe McMillan sank a 3 with 8:46 left to make it 44-32.

Rodney Webb had a 3-pointer and a breakaway dunk and the Owls would be able to get it down to six points at 50-44 when Rice made a runner in the lane with 51 seconds left, but a 4-for-8 effort from the free throw line by Stetson was enough to seal the win.

With the Hatters defense calling the shots, Rice’s 13 points was high for Florida Atlantic. Webb tossed in nine, but no one else had more than five points. The Owls shot just 29 percent from the field, considerably less than the percentage shot by the Hatters (49 percent).

For Stetson, Register and Gordon’s contributions weren’t limited to just scoring. Register added eight rebounds and Gordon had nine boards and three steals.

General Notes
• Stetson improves their A-Sun tourney record to 8-15 all-time. It was only the seventh time in 25 tries that a six-seed beat a No. 3.
• The loss means the end of Florida Atlantic’s tenure in the A-Sun. The Owls will move on to play in the Sun Belt next year.

• Stetson won its ninth straight game for the first time since the 1980-81 season when the Hatters won 10 straight.
• Stetson has also won 11-of-12. In those 12 games, E.J. Gordon has scored in double figures.
• The Hatters, who had the second best scoring defense in the league with 70.1 points allowed, improved their numbers by holding the Owls to 16-of-54 shooting for 44 points.
Florida Atlantic Notes
• The loss ends the season for the Owls at 15-14. It also snapped a four-game winning streak.
• The Owls drop to 2-11 when trailing at the half and 0-3 when scoring less than 50 points.
• FAU is now 0-3 when shooting less than 40 percent from the field.
• This was the 14th time DeAndre Rice led the Owls in scoring. They are 6-8 in those contests.

Stetson Notes
• A topsy-turvy season continues for the Hatters. After starting 0-10 and 2-16, Stetson has won 12-of-13.
• With his 13 points, Gordon has 1,675 career points, good for second in team annals and puts his 10th all-time in the A-Sun.
• The Hatters have now hit a 3-pointers in 50 straight games.
• Gordon has scored in double-figures in 15 straight games and has made a free throw in 46 consecutive outings.
• Stetson improves to 4-4 when shooting 45 percent or better and 5-0 when holding opponents under 40 percent.