Eagles Return to #ASunMBB Title Game; Face Mercer

Second-seeded FGCU (23-10; 13-5) advanced to its second-straight title game with a 72-58 win vs. third-seeded Stetson (15-16; 11-7) in the semifinals of the 2013 General Shale Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball Championship. A-Sun Player of the Year, Sherwood Brown tallied a team-high 18 points – 16 of which came in the first half.

The A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, Bernard Thompson picked up his second double-digit rebound performance of the year with 13 boards to set a new career-best. Thompson added 12 points, four assists and four steals. He now has 95 steals on the season – tied for third-most in the A-Sun single-season history.

The Eagles appear in the title game after finishing as runner-up last season. They become the first team since Jacksonville in 2009 to return to the A-Sun title game after taking runner-up honors the year before. FGCU’s 23 wins this year sets the program record for victories, which was set last season at 15. The win improvement of eight games is tied for 27th-best in A-Sun history.

The A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year and First Team All-Conference selection, Adam Pegg posted a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss. Second Team member, Chris Perez added 15 points for the Hatters, while Hunter Miller, an Academic All-Conference selection, dished out six assists to tie for the game-high.

The Eagles earn a showdown with top-seeded Mercer as the two teams will square off Saturday at noon on ESPN2. The two teams split the regular-season meetings with both teams winning at home. The contest at Mercer went into overtime.