Monday, February 01, 2010

MACON, Ga. - Nine days removed from winning a one-point contest at home, FGCU seeks a sweep of Mercer in the Atlantic Sun/CSS Game of the Week from Mercer's University Center at 9:00 p.m.

On Saturday, Jan. 23, in Fort Myers, the Bears rallied from a final-minute, four-point deficit when E.J. Kusnyer gave the Bears a one-point lead on a 3-point field goal, only to see FGCU claim victory on an offensive rebound lay-up from Anthony Banks with 7.6 seconds remaining. The win marked the first for Eagles against the Bears in five tries.

Banks has pushed his way into the discussion for the All-Freshman team as well as claiming the A-Sun’s Freshman of the Year only. He could join Reggie Chambers as the second FGCU player to make the five-member team. Banks has totaled four double-doubles, including three in his last seven games. In the three years since FGCU joined the A-Sun, only Landon Adler, with six in 2007-08, has registered more in a single-season.

Mercer ended a tough three-game losing streak by exploding against Stetson, posting a 91-57 win, the Bears largest margin in a win against a conference foe since Feb. 1995. In that game James Florence collected the 400th rebound and 400th assist of his career. He joins five other active players in Division I with 1,500 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists.

Florence, long known for his scoring prowess, has added the ability to distribute to his game. He leads the A-Sun, in league games, in assists at better than six per game. In his previous three years, he never averaged more than four assists per game.

Matt Stewart and Sonny Smith will be on the call. For those outside the CSS markets, catch all the action on ASun.TV, ESPN360.com or on ESPN Full Court. In central Florida markets, the game airs live on the Bright House Sports Network on tape delay. In middle Georgia, the game airs on tape delay at 10:00 p.m on Tuesday.