|
The Stetson men's basketball team (10-13, 7-5) returns to
action on Saturday, hosting ETSU (7-18, 5-7) at the Edmunds Center at 3:15 p.m. The Hatters, now tied for third in the
Atlantic Sun, will attempt to sweep the Buccaneers in the season series after
winning 72-70 earlier in the year in Johnson City.
"It's important that we build on the momentum gained from
our win against Upstate," Stetson head coach Casey Alexander said, referencing
the Hatters' 73-66 victory on Thursday night.
"As ugly as it was, it's important that our guys recognize you don't
have to play perfectly to win."
Stetson didn't play perfectly in their 10th
victory of the season, the most for the Hatters since 2008-09, but solid defense
and shooting prevailed, as SU shot 50.0 percent from the floor and held the
Spartans to just 38.0 percent shooting.
With nearly every team in the conference battling for
position at the conference tournament in March, the Hatters can't rest on the
fact that they defeated ETSU on the road just about a month ago. The Bucs have gone 4-5 since then, picking up
wins against FGCU, UNF, Lipscomb, and Kennesaw State.
"ETSU is a completely different team than the one we faced
in early January," Alexander said. "At
that point they were having real difficulty making shots and scoring
points. Well, we turned that around for
them, and since then they've turned into one of the most efficient offenses in
the league."
The Bucs will likely come into DeLand hungry, just two games
back of third place in the league at 5-7, but also having just been beaten down
by Florida Gulf Coast 67-43 on Thursday.
"We learned first-hand what can happen when you play at FGCU," Alexander
said of ETSU's struggles on Thursday. "I expect the Bucs will show up here
tomorrow with a renewed sense of purpose."
Saturday's contest can be watched on HatterVision and
ASun.TV, and can be heard on WSBB 1230 AM, 1490 AM, and MyAM1230.com. Robbie Aaron and Ryan Rouse will be on the
call. Live Stats, the @StetsonMBB Twitter
feed, and Hat-Alerts will also be available for in-game updates.
|
