Mercer University
Kennesaw St.
Men's Basketball Falls at Kennesaw State, 83-75
1/5/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – Mercer senior Travis Smith scored a team-high 18 points as the men's basketball team suffered an 83-75 defeat at the hands of Kennesaw State on Saturday afternoon at the KSU Convocation Center.
Mercer's loss snapped a three-game winning streak and sent the Bears to 9-7 (2-1 A-Sun). Kennesaw State saw its 12-game losing streak end and improved to 2-13 (1-2 A-Sun).
Smith led four Mercer players in double-figure scoring, joined by Langston Hall (13), Bud Thomas (12) and Jakob Gollon (10). Smith has now led the team in scoring in three-straight games and led or tied for the team lead in eight of 16 games this year.
Kennesaw State wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, canning threes on five of their first six possessions to stake a 12 point lead in the opening four minutes of play. The Owls maintained a double-digit advantage for the majority of the first half before the Bears finished the period on a 6-0 run to go into halftime trailing 39-35.
As Kennesaw State used the three, Mercer owned the paint in the early going. The Bears scored 12 of their first 15 points in the paint and finished the first period with an 18-6 lead in paint scoring. The Owls' finished the half eight-of-12 from three-point range in comparison to Mercer's four-of-10 aim from downtown.
The momentum Mercer carried into half failed to translate to the second period, as the Bears went scoreless in the opening five minutes of the half, allowing the Owls to move out to a 48-35 lead. From there, Mercer would get as close as six multiple times, but could never complete the comeback.
A large part of the game was played at the free throw line, as officials whistled the two teams for 57 fouls in 40 minutes of play. Kennesaw State was 38-of-55 from the free throw line, including 29-of-40 in the second half alone. Mercer shot 20-of-24 from the charity stripe.
Mercer returns to Atlantic Sun play at North Florida on January 10. Game time at UNF Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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