Mercer University
Evansville
Men's Basketball Falls at Evansville, 89-76
11/18/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Mercer senior point guard Langston Hall scored a career-high 25 points and the Bears led by three at halftime, but a potent Evansville offense turned in 51 second-half points to earn an 89-76 win on Monday at the Ford Center.
Mercer saw its two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 2-2 while Evansville improved to 2-0 at home and 3-0 overall.
Hall's 25 points came on the heels of a 24-point effort against Seton Hall, marking the first time the Atlanta, Ga. native has scored 20 or more in back-to-back games. On Monday, his line featured 11-of-12 shooting at the free throw line, two assists and two rebounds.
Seniors Jakob Gollon and Daniel Coursey joined him in double –figure scoring, tallying 11 and 10 points, respectively. Gollon added seven rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes while Coursey snatched six rebounds and blocked a shot before fouling out with nearly seven minutes to play.
An Anthony White Jr. three pointer helped Mercer build a five-point lead at the first media timeout, but Evansville came out of the stoppage with a 9-2 run to go ahead 15-13.
The back-and-forth nature of the half continued as the teams traded leads 10 times and shared five tied scores in the first 12 minutes of play. Mercer got its first real separation of the game with a 9-0 run capped by a Bud Thomas three pointer put the Bears up 32-23 lead with 6:33 remaining in the first.
Evansville returned with an 11-3 charge to tie the game before Mercer scored six in the final 96 seconds to go to the locker room leading 41-38.
Mercer shot 56% (14-of-25) from the field in the first half, the highest percentage in a period for the team since shooting 57.7% in the second half against Setson on March 2, 2013.
Two minutes into the second half, Coursey was called for an offensive foul and slammed the ball in frustration. He was whistled for another infraction, and the series fueled a 10-0 Evansville charge that put the hosts ahead 53-46 with 16:26 to go.
Mercer cut the deficit to two (62-60) midway through the half but could never complete the comeback. The Purple Aces shot 61.9% (13-of-21) during the period to withstand Mercer's efforts.
Junior T.J. Hallice went four-of-five from the field for eight points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Sophomore Ike Nwamu also netted eight points to go along with two assists and two steals.
Mercer returns to action hosting Johnson and Wales on Wednesday night. Tipoff at Hawkins Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
