Saturday, January 12, 2008

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Friday night in Ft. Myers the Stetson men's basketball team rode Garfield Blair's double-double and A.J Smith's game-high 18 points to an impressive 70-62 A-Sun conference win over Florida Gulf Coast University.

Blair (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS) finished the game with 17 points and equaled a career-high with 13 rebounds. He was 6-for-13 from the field, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. The result was Stetson's first double-double since February 24, 2007 when Blair scored 18 points and pulled down 13 boards against Kennesaw State.

On this night Smith (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa HS) played like the impetus that would not let the Hatters fail. It seemed like every time Stetson needed a score, he would shift and drive his way into the paint and give the team a lift by scoring or getting fouled. Smith hit five of 13 field goal attempts and finished 7-for-9 from the line.

In the first half the Hatters shot 54% from the field and were never down by more than two points. The lead changed hands six times with Stetson's largest lead of eight points (25-17) coming on a Smith 3-pointer at 8:23. FGCU then went on a 13-5 run to even the score at 30 with 1:17 left in the period. A pair of turnovers later the half came down to a final second jumper by Smith. After the buzzer sounded and the referee reviewed the play on a television monitor, Stetson led 32-30 at halftime.