Mercer University
FGCU
Men's Basketball Tops FGCU for Third Straight Win
2/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team won for the seventh time in its last nine games, holding off a second-half rally by Florida Gulf Coast for a 74-61 Atlantic Sun Conference victory Saturday at the University Center.
Mercer (11-15, 8-7 A-Sun) built a 20-point lead at 34-14 with six minutes left in the opening half before FGCU (6-18, 3-12 A-Sun) cut the margin to 40-30 just before intermission.
The Bears shot 55.6 percent (150-for-27) in the opening 20 minutes.
Junior Justin Cecil nailed a pair of three pointers en route the scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first half. Mark Hall added two first-half treys and totaled eight points.
The Eagles continues to whittle away at the Bear advantage early in the second half and eventually tied the score at 54 apiece with 7:04 remaining. The tie score came on the heels of a 10-0 FGCU surge that spanned four minutes.
Mercer looked to senior Brian Mills to spark the response, and the Douglasville, Ga. native came through with four-straight points. Mercer would not relinquish the lead after Mills' spurt.
Mills finished with a game-high 22 points while adding seven rebounds and a steal in 35 minutes of action.
The Bears scored 21 of their 34 second-half points from the free-throw line, including their final 13. The charity tosses helped Mercer seal the victory, as the Bears cashed in on each of their last seven free throw attempts.
Sophomore Jake Gollon and Mills each hit seven free throws in the second half.
All told, four mercer players reached double figures in the scoring column. Mark Hall tallied 12 points while freshman Bud Thomas netted 10.
Mercer concludes the four-game home stand with in-state foe Kennesaw State on Tuesday, February, 15. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the University Center.
