GWU Men Return Home To Host Ferrum Saturday Afternoon (4:00 PM)
December 19, 2008 | Men's Basketball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb is finally home for
the holidays, and will host Ferrum (Va.) in a pre-Christmas tilt on
Saturday, December 20, at 4 pm ET in Paul Porter Arena.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (3-7) have played just once at home this
season, following a grueling stretch that saw the team play nine of
its first 10 on the road. Heartbreaking losses to powers Virginia
Tech (65-62) and No. 12 Oklahoma (80-76) have provided confidence
for Gardner-Webb, which begins a four-game home stand that begins
with Ferrum on Saturday.
Junior guard Grayson Flittner caught fire during Wednesday night's
96-90 win at Western Carolina – torching the Ramsey Center
nets for a season-best 31 points on 8-of-14 shooting. The
Sharpsville, Ind., native – a preseason All-Big South
Conference choice – is averaging a team-high 16.8 points on
the season and is also on pace for new career-best averages in
rebounds (3.2 rpg) and assists (4.3).
Aaron Linn (12.9 ppg) and Nate Blank (10.9 ppg) are also averaging
in double digits, but the most notable development for the Bulldogs
in 2008-09 might be the play of center Auryn MacMillan.
The 6-foot-8, 235-pound Aussie has averaged 13.2 points in the
team's last three games, netting 17 points in a loss at Wichita
State (12/12) and topping that with a career-high 18 points on
8-of-10 shooting at Western Carolina (12/17). MacMillan is
currently averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, has
blocked a team-high 11 shots and is shooting a strong 60.7 percent
from the floor. In the two games vs. Wichita State and Western
Carolina, MacMillan has shot a combined 16-of-20 (80 percent).
Jonathan Moore, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound swingman from Rogers, Ark.,
has also emerged as a scoring threat. The former Shelton State
(Ala.) junior college standout is averaging 8.6 points per game,
but is pouring in 11.4 points as a starter – with his first
start coming at South Carolina on Nov. 25 (17 points).
Coach Rick Scruggs has seen his bench develop as well, with Joshua
Henley (7.6 points, 8.4 rebounds), Anton Silver (5.3 ppg), Takayo
Siddle and C.J. Hailey providing important minutes during the
Western Carolina win on December 18. Henley, Silver and Siddle have
each enjoyed double-figure scoring nights already this season.
Gardner-Webb will face a Ferrum team that is off to a 6-3 mark so
far in 2008-09, including a 72-42 rout of Lynchburg College on
December 18. The Panthers are limiting teams to just 57.2 ppg and
37.3 percent shooting on the year, and are out-rebounding their
foes by nearly six boards per game. Derek Mitchell (13.9 ppg, 11.4
rpg) and Keith Crump (14.8 ppg) are the scoring stars, but the
Panthers have five players who average at least seven points and
three rebounds per game.
Mitchell, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound forward from Newport News, Va., is
shooting 54.9 percent from the floor and averaged 12.9 points and
10.4 rebounds per game a year ago.
Gardner-Webb last played Ferrum during the 2006-07 season, winning
70-53 for its first win of that campaign.
