Monday, January 14, 2008

MACON, Ga. – For the Belmont Bruins, Lipscomb’s Allen Arena had not been a friendly site as the Bruins had lost their previous three trips down the street. Saturday’s outlook did not look promising entering the game as the Bruins had to play without senior Justin Hare. But as so often happens, someone steps up when a star is out and junior Shane Dansby did just that for Bruins, scoring a career-high 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as the Bruins handed the Bisons just their fifth home defeat in the last five seasons. For his effort, Dansby earned his first Player of the Week award, the conference office announced on Monday.

Dansby, a junior from Pegram, Tenn., has scored consistently for the Bruins this season as he has reached double figures in all 14 games he has appeared in this season. However, he had yet to reach the 20-point barrier prior to Saturday’s double-overtime classic with Lipscomb, the fifth overtime game between the two schools since 2004. In addition to the 23 points, he established career bests for made field goals, 10; field goals attempted, 16 and made three-point field goals, three. He scored 17 of his 23 points and grabbed eight of his 12 rebounds after halftime.

In the second overtime, he scored a pair of big baskets. He extended the Bruins’ lead to six early in the period when he connected on his third 3-point field goal of the afternoon and after Lipscomb cut the lead to five with one minute to go, the Bruins broke Lipscomb’s full-court press and Dansby finished the play with a thunderous two-handed dunk.

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

Shaddean Aaron, MER (Sr. – G – Pomona, Calif. – Computer Science) – Led Bears in scoring in two A-Sun games, netted a game-high 29 points in win past UNF and a game-best 18 points vs Jacksonville; Recorded a season-high four blocks vs UNF; 29-point effort was just one shy of his career-high.

Garfield Blair, STET (Jr. – G – Orlando, Fla. – E Business Technology) – Led Hatters to 2nd straight A-Sun win with a double-double vs FGCU with 17 points/13 rebounds; 13 rebounds equaled a career-high; First Stetson double-double since Blair did it last year against Kennesaw State (2/24/07) (18 pts/13 rebs)

Tanner Jacobs, KSU (Fr. – F – Louisville, Ky. – Undeclared) – Averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as the Owls split a pair of conference games; Scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win against UNF and scored seven points and grabbed three boards in a loss to Jacksonville.

Jonathan Rodriguez, CAM (So. – G – Miami – Kinesiology) – Led all scorers with 25 points in a 74-69 loss at ETSU; Scored game-high 23 points, added five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in 66-59 win at USC Upstate. Saturday's win ended a 14-game losing streak for the Camels on the road.

Rob Quaintance, FGCU (Sr. – G – Glendale, Az. – Communications) – Led FGCU with a career-high 17 points in the Eagles first home conference game. He went 6-for-10 from the floor and 5-of-8 from downtown while adding three assists and five steals.

Ben Smith, JU (So. – G – Dublin, Ga. – Undeclared) – Recorded second career double-double against KSU and hit game-winning shot at Mercer as Dolphins remained unbeaten in A-Sun play; Out dueled all-conference selections Ronell Wooten and James Florence (held Wooten to 8 points, Florence to 14)