Mercer Leads A-Sun at Halfway Point of League Play

MACON, Ga. (ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE RELEASE) – The halfway point of the Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball season has hit as Mercer sits at the top of the league standings at 8-1 ahead of FGCU (7-2) and North Florida (5-4).

Two games are slated for Thursday as Jacksonville hosts Lipscomb in the A-Sun CollegeInsider Thursdday Showcase, while North Florida welcomes Northern Kentucky to the River City. Three games are ready for Friday due to weather delays as Stetson and FGCU battle in the A-Sun CSSFriday Night game, while Mercer travels to ETSU. USC Upstate hosts Kennesaw State on ESPN3.

#ASunMBB Tweetables (#ASunMBB):

· Due to weather conditions, changes were made to this week’s schedule. Originally scheduled for Thursday, Kennesaw State at USC Upstate and Mercer at ETSU has been pushed to Friday, Jan. 31st. Both games are set to tip at 7 p.m.Consequentially, the two games between the four teams scheduled on Saturday have been pushed to Sunday, Feb. 2ndwith both games tipping at 2 p.m.

· Jacksonville defeated Lipscomb in their first meeting (88-85) on Jan. 6th. JU’s Jarvis Haywood and Lipscomb Josh Williams each registered 20-point games in the contest as Haywood scored 23 and Williams tallied 28.

· Northern Kentucky is undefeated against North Florida since transitioning to Division I last season. The Norse are 3-0 vs. the Ospreys with an average margin of victory of 15.3 PPG. The Norse defeated UNF 70-64 this season on Jan. 6th.

· North Florida Travis Wallace steps up his game when playing at home in UNF Arena. In home contests, Wallace averages 13.3 PPG and 8.5 RPG compared to 11.0 PPG and 6.8 RPG in road contests.

· Kennesaw State’s Delbert Love is approaching 1,000 career points as a junior for the Owls. He currently sits with 987 points and could become the eighth #ASunMBB player to reach the career mark this season and 157th player in A-Sun history.

· FGCU’s Brett Comer can move into seventh place for career assists in A-Sun history with three assists vs. Stetson on Friday. He would pass Georgia State’s Rodney Hamilton (1994-98) who sits with 535 career assists.

· Jacksonville’s Jarvis Haywood leads all players in scoring (17.9) for the season in conference-only play (19.1). The last player to top the A-Sun charts in scoring for both was the 2010-11 season when Kennesaw State’s Markeith Cummings accomplished the feat (18.3 / 19.0).

· A-Sun teams own a 68-28 record in home games so far this season; good for a winning percentage of 70.8. Last season, A-Sun teams combined for a 84-47 home record (64.1%).

· Mercer owns the most wins in league play over the past two seasons with 22 just ahead of FGCU at 20. Stetson sits in third with 15 since the 2012-13 season.

· ETSU and Kennesaw State have already passed last year’s win totals. Last season, ETSU won 10 contests but have captured 11 victories already. Kennesaw State had increased its win total from three to four this year.

· Mercer Langston Hall is averaging 7.0 APG in conference play. It marks the best average in A-Sun play since Mercer’s Damitrius Coleman averaged 7.53 APG in the 2004-05 A-Sun season.

· USC Upstate’s Torrey Craig is on pace to finish his career in the top-five of the A-Sun record books for career points and rebounds joining Centenary’s Willie Jackson (1980-84) and Campbell’s Jonathan Rodriguez (2006-10) as the only other two players to do so.

· Five A-Sun teams have played in four games decided by three points or less. MercerMBB leads the way with the best record at 4-0 ahead of Stetson at 3-1. FGCU and NKU are tied for third at 2-2.

· USC Upstate’s Torrey Craig and Ricardo Glenn are the first teammates in A-Sun history to each have 800 career rebounds at the same time. Craig’s 863 career rebounds ranks ninth all-time, while Glenn’s 801 boards are 13th most.