Saturday, January 23, 2010

DELAND, Fla. - Stetson (5-12, 3-6) scored on its opening possession and then never trailed en route to a 76-69 win over Mercer (9-9, 5-3) Friday night in the Edmunds Center. Eight of the nine Hatters that took the floor scored as they bullied the Bears with a strong team effort.
A.J. Smith (Cocoa, Fla.) had 22 points to lead Stetson while Ridge Graham (Stuart, Fla.) and Mark Lohuis (Vero Beach, Fla.) added 15 apiece. Mercer's James Florence, the A-Sun's #2 gunner, was the game's leading scorer with 25 points. Daniel Emerson added 18 points for Mercer.

Lohuis equaled his career-high in three pointers with five and hit a season-high with the 15 points. He was 5-for-9 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.

"I was really proud of our guys tonight", said Stetson head coach Derek Waugh. "This was a really big win for us."

"We have been waiting for this group to come together and gel. I am not sure if we are completely there yet, but this was a big step forward", he added.

 Stetson has now won two of its last three A-Sun conference games including last Thursday's upset victory on the road against ETSU.