This Weekend in the A-Sun

Strep throat. Thanks for asking.

12 games to look at, so here we go:

Best Game of the weekend -- Campbell 69, Lipscomb 68. Back and forth all night, capped by a Junard Hartley buzzer-beater 3 -- his only points of the night -- for the win. Lipscomb did what they had to do defensively, limiting Jonathan Rodriguez to 4 points and 1 rebound for a season-low PEG of 6 and shutting out Kyle Vejraska completely, but the supporting cast stepped up big-time for an impressive road win.

Runner-up for Best Game -- FGCU 64, ETSU 61. The Bucs had a single-digit lead most of the way, but could never get separation. The Eagles bided their time, then struck late. Down 4 with 90 seconds left, Gulf Coast hit 2 FTs to cut the deficit in half. Then Reggie Chambers makes a huge steal, picking Courtney Pigram's pocket and going coast-to-coast, hitting the lay-up and drawing the foul. The free throw put Gulf Coast up 1 for the first time since the 17 minute park of the first half. ETSu held for the last shot, but Isiah Brown's jumper drew back iron and Gulf Coast got the board, icing the win with 2 more FTs. Big-time but overlooked stat: Gulf Coast had 16 steals on the night.

Player of the Weekend -- Garfield Blair (STET). His team went 1-2, but his play in the second half against Upstate may have saved the season. Blair posted PEGs of 26 and 22 in the losses and 23 in the win.

Best Players of the Weekend -- Calvin Henry (MER) 35 PEG on 11-12 FTs and 11 rebounds against UNF. Ayron Hardy (JAX) 26 PEG in beating Mercer. Alex Renfroe (BEL) 25 PEG against Campbell. Andy Wicke (BEL) 25 PEG against Lipscomb. Ben Smith (JAX) 24 PEG vs. Mercer. Kevin Tiggs (ETSU) 23 vs. Stetson; this is a recording. James Florence (MER) 22 PEG against UNF. Jon-Michale Nickerson (KENN) 22 PEG in the loss to Jacksonville.

Weird weekend for some big-name guys. Courtney Pigram had a PEG shutout against Stetson, and J-Rod was held to 4 at Lipscomb. Yet both teams won, and on the road at that.

Look out world, here come the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. 4-3 in conference with weekend wins over Upstate, Stetson (!) and ETSU (!!!). Watch out especially if you're up early; that's right where they want you.

Game Snippets:

Gulf Coast over Statson. A 21-4 first half run by the Eagles erased an early deficit, and a 21-6 spurt in the second half put it out of reach. Stetson was game late, valiently closing a 22-point gap, but ran out of time, losing by 9.

UNF over Kennesaw. The Owls shoot 3-for-27 in the first 17 minutes of the second half, and the Ospreys win going away.

Jacksonville over Mercer. The Dolphins are starting to shoot the ball a little bit. 3 straight games with better than 50% FG shooting. Memo to Mercer: If last year wasn't proof enough that depth matters, this game should clinch it. The Big 3 were OK, but the rest of the team was never in the game. Jacksonville also rebounded almost half of their missed shots. To win on the road, you need depth, rebounding, defense, and good FT shooting. Mercer went 1-for-4.

ETSU over Stetson. Solid road win for the Bucs, with good production from role players. Oh, and Kevin Tiggs.

Gulf Coast over Upstate. Down 6 early, the Eagles mount runs of 16-2 and 11-0, then cruise home.

Belmont over Campbell. I think we made it angry. After an even first ten minutes, Belmont went on an 11-0 run to build a working margin. Then, up 12 in the second half, the Bruins went off. Belmont hit five straight 3-pointers and forced 4 turnovers and 10 straight Campbell misses in a 25-1 run that put the issue to bed. As for Campbell? A Nashville split is OK, but one would like to have seen them put up more than token resistance against Belmont.

Mercer over UNF. Calvin Henry returns to form. James Florence makes a lot of shots, but he takes a lot of shots. This is a recording. UNF put up a valiant fight into the second half, but Mercer made their FTs all night (gasp!) to keep the Ospreys at bay.

Jacksonville over Kennesaw. Rebounding, rebounding rebounding. Jacksonville pulled down 22 offensive boards on the night, compared to only 16 defensive rebounds by the Owls. Jacksonville also only committed 7 turnovers. Kennesaw hung tough, taking good care of the ball (9 turnovers), but the Dolphins on the boards were too much. 11 Jacksonville players played at least 10 minutes, and all 11 had at least 2 rebounds.

Stetson over Upstate: Season-saver. Stetson was coming off 2 losses, 3-3 in conference, and down 10 at home to Upstate in the second half (after being up 13 early) before rallying to win by 6.

Belmont over Lipscomb (Battle of the Boulevard I): Every bit of a battle. Belmont led the whole way, but Lipscomb would not fold. the Bruins had a couple of chances to put the game away, but came up empty. Lipscomb would rally, and Belmont would get some more distance. Sort of like a heavyweight fight everybody knows is going to the judges as soon as the fighters step into the ring. By the way, kudos to Hope Hines and Channel 5 for their coverage.