Mercer University
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North Florida
Bears Stay Unbeaten at Home In A-Sun Play; Drop UNF 69-58
1/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team vaulted its way into first place in the Atlantic Sun standings by way of a 69-58 victory over North Florida Saturday at the University Center.
Mercer was helped out by losses from Belmont and East Tennessee St. earlier in the day, giving Mercer sole possession of the league's top spot.
The Bears improved to 14-7 overall and 6-2 in the A-Sun, which marks the team's best start in conference play since the 2004-05 season and the best start in current head coach Bob Hoffman's tenure. UNF falls 9-12 and 3-5 in the A-Sun.
Mercer's score-by-committee offense continued to prove its worth Saturday afternoon as three Bears scored in double figures. In total, nine different Bears scored in the game with sophomore Daniel Coursey and junior Travis Smith leading the way with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Coursey shot 5-of-7 from the field and added four blocks in the game to move his A-Sun leading season total to 45.
"It's just unbelievable, they compete and they find ways to get it done," head coach Bob Hoffman said. "There are a lot of games left, but we have a lot of guys who can make plays and we are continuing to play hard."
The Bears got off to a quick start, busting out to a 20-7 lead when sophomore center Monty Brown threw down a dunk eight minutes into the first half. UNF coach Matthew Driscoll was forced to call a timeout as the Bears home crowd of 2,951 strong continued the momentum.
The Ospreys however were able to counter with a 20-9 run to draw the deficit to just 29-27 heading into halftime. UNF's Travis Wallace added seven first-half points and finished with 20 to lead all scorers.
Mercer jumped out to a six-point lead to start the second half, but UNF responded to tie the game at 38 with 13:49 to play. From there Mercer held the Ospreys at arm's length with Travis Smith adding all 12 of his points in the second half.
"We had great crowd tonight, it's what you dream of in a home court advantage," Hoffman said.
The win moves the Bears to 8-0 at home this season 4-0 in the A-Sun at the UC. As a team Mercer shot 46 percent from the field and out-rebounded UNF 40-30.
Mercer continues A-Sun play Monday night welcoming in Jacksonville who has struggled thus far in 2011-12. The Dolphins are 3-15 and just 1-6 in the A-Sun this season.
"Jacksonville is athletic, we will just have to do a good job of containing dribblers," Hoffman said. "We need to get some rest tonight and get ready for Monday night."
Monday's game time is set for 7 p.m. and can be watched live on ASun.tv.
