Friday, December 09, 2011

MACON, Ga. - Twelve men's basketball games are slated for play over the next six days including three scheduled to appear on ESPN3.

North Florida takes its four-game winning streak on the road to Kansas State on Sunday, Dec. 11th, while Belmont makes its second trip of the season to Middle Tennessee State for a showdown of two top-20 mid-major programs on Tuesday, Dec. 13th. Kennesaw State's match-up at No. 10 Missouri on Thursday, Dec. 15th is also slated to be shown on ESPN3.

Three contests will be broadcasted on ASun.TV, while USC Upstate's game at Dayton will appear on Fox Sports Ohio and the Spartans showdown with No. 2 Ohio State can been seen on the Big Ten Network.

• Entering this week’s slate of games, the Atlantic Sun boasts an undefeated record against eight conferences. Combined, the A-Sun is 15-0 vs. the Atlantic 10, Colonial, Horizon, SoCon, Southland, SWAV, Northeast and Great West. The A-Sun also owns a 5-1 record against the Ohio Valley Conference and owns 36 non-conference wins early in the year.
• With his 15-point performance at Lipscomb, Kennesaw State’s Markeith Cummings moved into 63rd all-time in the A-Sun for career points with 1,250. Cummings jumped past five former student-athletes. Cummings’ teammate Spencer Dixon is only four points away from becoming the 136th A-Sun student-athlete to reach 1,000 career points. Belmont’s Ian Clark is also nearing the mark at 981 career points.
• Belmont remained at No. 6 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll this week. The Bruins have ranked in the top-six of the ranking in every poll this season.
• ETSU’s senior Tommy Hubbard recorded his 15th career double-double at FGCU with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The performance moved Hubbard into the A-sun record books as he tied for 23rd for most career double-doubles.
• USC Upstate’s Torrey Craig registered two 20-point games last week with 20 vs. Jacksonville State and 28 on the road vs. UNC Asheville. His three 20-point games on the season is tied with Cummings for the league lead, while his 10 career games ranks third amongst active players behind Belmont’s Ian Clark (11) and Cummings (28).
• Lipscomb’s Malcolm Smith claimed the Newcomer of the Week honor this week following teammate Zavion Williams, who earned the honor in the previous week. It marked only the second time in A-Sun history the same program won the award in back-to-back weeks.
• FGCU’s Brett Comer recorded 10 assists in a win against ETSU on Dec. 3rd. It was the freshman’s second double-digit performances this season. He is only the fourth A-Sun student-athlete to record at least two double-digit assists games in a single-season in the past five years. The last Eagle to accomplish the feat was Rob Quaintance in the 2007-08 season when he tallied three double-digit games.
• Belmont owns a 20-game home winning streak after claiming three victories in the past eight days. The home winning streak is tied for seventh longest in the nation and is tied with North Carolina.
• In their A-Sun Conference coaching debuts, Stetson’s Casey Alexander and FGCU’s Andy Enfield both earned victories against ETSU.
• Last season, North Florida won four home contests - all of which came in league play. This season, the Ospreys are 5-0 at UNF Arena, which includes a 22-point victory vs. Jacksonville on Dec. 3rd. The Ospreys are riding a four-game win streak after starting the year, 1-4.
• At 6-3, Mercer is off to its best start since the 2004-05 season, when the Bears began 7-3. The Bears are led by several different players as six student-athletes are averaging at least eight points per contest. Mercer has been led in scoring by four different players this season.
• Jacksonville owns three of the top-six three-point shooters early on in the season with Chris Davis (1st; .529), Aloys Cabell (3rd; .462) and Keith McDougald (6th; .405). The Dolphins rank third as a team in the A-Sun at .369 from behind the arch.