Monday, December 10, 2007

MACON, Ga. - One year ago tomorrow, Mercer's Shaddean Aaron won his first Player of the Week award, sharing the honor with teammate James Florence. On Monday, he earned his first solo Player of the Week award, the conference office announced, after leading the Bears to three wins and averaging better than 18 PPG during the week.

The senior from Pomona, Calif., scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Bears opened the week with a 93-92 road win at Charleston Southern to snap a five-game losing skid. His free throw with 38.5 seconds left cut the Charleston Southern lead to four as Mercer rallied from a 15-point second half deficit for the win.

Aaron followed up two nights later with a season-high, and game-high, 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-8 from the field in the second half, as the Bears topped Furman, ending a five-game losing streak at the hands of the Paladins. On Saturday, he posted a game-high 15 points and five steals in only 25 minutes of action in Mercer's 76-62 win over Sewanee as the Bears stayed perfect in December

For the week, Aaron, a computer science major, averaged 18.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 3.0 SPG and shot 52.8 percent from the field, including 42.9 percent (6-14) from beyond the 3-point arc. In addition, with three blocks this week, Aaron passed Mark Adamson to move into 9th place all-time on Mercer's all-time blocked shot list with 55.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Other Top Performers

Andrew House, BEL (Jr. – G/F – Nashville, Tenn. – Accounting) – Former walk-on now on scholarship, scored career-high 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting in first career start in 106-49 victory over Fisk; Went 5-8 from 3-point range, also had a career-high three steals, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.

Jonathan Rodriguez, CAM (So. – F – Miami – Sport Management) – Rodriguez notched 5th double-double with 27 points and 13 boards at Radford; Averaging 22.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in four career games against the Highlanders; He leads the A-Sun in scoring (19.3), rebounding (10.9).

Shuan Stegall, KSU (Sr. – G – Atlanta. – Psychology) – Led the Owls in scoring with 17 points in Kennesaw State's 69-62 win over Clark Atlanta on Saturday night. The Owls senior was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line as he helped the Owls snap their three game losing streak.