Recent Game Recaps

The two-time Atlantic Sun champion Belmont Bruins were a bit undersold last summer, as they lost two 6-10 seniors who earned the lion's share of the team's rebounds last season. The Bruins have suffered a bit on the boards, but they're getting a lot of them from a player that last year would have seemed an unlikely source, and have kept on winning. Shane Dansby, a 6-4 junior, is our fifteenth Mid-Majority Baller of the Week.

Last Thursday, Dansby helped lead Belmont to its sixth straight win to take control of the league race. At East Tennessee State, the team that the Bruins beat to earn the 2007 autobid, Dansby shot 12-for-15 for 28 points, and added eight rebounds in a 87-75 victory. Two days later, the team completed a road sweep by winning at USC Upstate by 10. Dansby was the Bruins' most efficient and productive player on that day, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. For his efforts, he was offered the Atlantic Sun's weekly honor.

Shane, a native of Pegram, Tenn. and a former player at Murray State, has made the most of his opportunities as an Bruin upperclassman. He's the team's second-leading scorer with 14.3 ppg, and leads Belmont in boards with 6.1 per contest. Last week's A-Sun Player of the Week nod was his second of the season, and Belmont sports information director Greg Sage notes that Dansby's saved his best performances for the league's best. Against A-Sun teams with winning records, he's averaged 18.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg and has shot 58.4 percent from the floor (including 45.5 percent from 3). If Belmont is to return to the Big Dance for a third straight year, our current Mid-Majority Baller of the Week will likely be a big part of the drive.