Monday, February 22, 2010

MACON, Ga. – Lipscomb’s Josh Slater continued to make his push for the Atlantic Sun’s player of the year award by leading the Bisons to a pair of victories, netting the junior his second Player of the Week award, the conference announced on Monday.

A week after a losses dropped Lipscomb from first to fifth in the Atlantic Sun standings, junior guard Josh Slater led the Bisons to two critical road wins in Florida and barely missed a triple-double. Slater averaged 22.5 points, 9.0 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals while shooting 62.1 percent for the week. He made five-of-11 attempts from downtown and had a 6-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Thursday, Slater finished one rebound shy of Lipscomb’s first known triple-double in a 93-75 victory against FGCU. The Nashville, Tenn. native tallied 19 points, a career-high tying 11 assists, nine rebounds and three steals. Slater continued his heroics Saturday evening in an 85-71 win at Stetson where he joined teammate Adnan Hodzic in scoring 26 points, while shooting 11-of-16 from the floor. He finished with seven assists and no turnovers while bringing down five boards and tallying four steals. On the season, the corporate management major joins Ohio State’s Evan Turner, Canisius’ Frank Turner and Loyola Marymount’s Vernon Teel as the only four players in Division I averaging at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per game.

The only place to watch the Wednesday and Thursday quarterfinal action from next week’s General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championships comes courtesy ASun.TV. All eight quarterfinal games, scheduled for noon, 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. will be offered for free.

Fans can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates on conference news, weekly awards, and from A-Sun championships. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by visiting facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference.

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
Markeith Cummings, Kennesaw State (Fr. - Forward - Birmingham, Ala. - Undeclared) – Cummings averaged 20 points against Jacksonville and UNF, including scoring 24 against and grabbing 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year against the Dolphins. For the week, Cummings connected on 56 percent of his field goals, half of his three-pointers and finished 10-for-11 from the foul line, while also grabbing 16 rebounds.

Daniel Emerson, Mercer (Sr. - Forward - St. Mary's, Ga. - Business) – Emerson racked up two double-doubles, pushing his season to 19 as the Bears split a pair of games. The senior forward averaged 21.0 points and 14.0 rebounds per game last week, while hitting 66.7 percent from the field. Emerson had a season-high 18 rebounds versus UNF (along with 20 points) and 22 points versus Jacksonville. The St. Mary’s, Ga. native moved up to No. 3 in the nation in rebounding at 12.0 per game.

Lorne Merthie, Campbell (So. - Guard - Sanford, Fla. - Sport Management) – Merthie helped extend Campbell's win streak to six games, its longest streak since '95-96, and move into first place in the A-Sun standings by averaging 16.3 points per game and shooting 63% from 3-point range. The sophomore guard hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in a win against USC Upstate, and tallied a game-high 21 points. Merthie led all scorers in Campbell’s 79-57 win against ETSU with 19 points.