Monday, January 11, 2010

MACON, Ga. – In a three-game week, Mercer’s Daniel Emerson opened with a career performance at UNF and helped the Bears beat two unbeaten teams to claim his first Atlantic Sun Player of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday.

The St. Mary’s Ga. native led Mercer to a 3-0 week in A-Sun play with wins at UNF and home victories against previously unbeaten Campbell and ETSU. The senior set a career-high with 29 points, on a 15-of-17 effort from the foul line against UNF, to go along with 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year. Emerson became first player since Nebraska’s Aleks Maric, in 2007, to have 15 free throws and 15 rebounds in a game.

In Thursday’s win against Campbell, the senior totaled 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. The business major racked up another double-double, with 13 points and 12 rebounds, as the Bears defeated ETSU for the first time in nine all-time meetings. For the week, his 28 made free throws, 35 free-throw attempts and 35 rebounds all ranked second in the nation.

Emerson joined his brothers, Scott and Will as Player of the Week winners. Scott won five during his career and Will won the award twice.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast 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
Ian Clark, Belmont (Fr. - Guard - Memphis, Tenn. – Undeclared) – Averaged 22 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game as Belmont defeated Stetson. Clark scored a career-high 31 points on 10-for-17 shooting against the Hatters, becoming just the sixth freshman in the nation to record a 30-point game this season. Clark has a team-high 10 double figure scoring games this season.

Jerron Granberry, UNF (Fr. - Guard - Miami - Business Management) – Averaged 13.5 points, a team-high 5.0 rebounds and shot 57 percent from the field, and from 3-point range. He also added two steals and a block. Helped lead UNF to wins at FGCU and Stetson. The two road league wins is one more than UNF has posted in the four previous years in the conference.

Jonathan Rodriguez, Campbell (Sr. - Forward - Bayamon, Puerto Rico - Sport Administration) – Rodriguez collected two 20-plus point games and the Camels moved into a first-place tie in the A-Sun standings. He scored 24 points with 10 rebounds in a loss at Mercer, then posted 25 (10-of-14 from the field) points plus eight boards in Saturday's win at Kennesaw State. Along the way, he broke the league record for career free throws made (562 entering this week's play).

Ben Smith, Jacksonville (Sr. - Guard - Dublin, Ga. - Sports Administration) – Extended his streak of consecutive games with 20-point or more to seven - averaging 24.6 ppg during the streak. He now has 24 20-plus scoring nights in his career. He moved into seventh place on JU’s all-time scoring list with 1,593 points – passing JU legend James Ray. Smith dished out at least five assists in four of the last five games and lifted JU to five wins in its last six games.

Mezie Uzochukwu, USC Upstate (Jr. - Forward - Greensboro, N.C. – Business Finance) – Posted back-to-back double-doubles on the week, and finished the week averaging nearly a double-double. He began the week with 11 points and 10 rebounds against ETSU. Against Belmont, he posted 13 points and 10 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. At Lipscomb on Saturday, he finished with 10 points and nine rebounds to narrowly miss his third straight double-double.