Mercer University
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North Fla.
Men's Basketball Overpowers North Florida, 64-44
2/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team employed an overpowering second half effort to down North Florida 64-44 on Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena. Mercer clinched a spot in the upcoming Atlantic Sun Tournament with the win, while extending its home court winning streak to 13.
Mercer's fourth-straight win overall lifted the team to 16-9 (9-3 A-Sun) while North Florida dropped to 10-16 (5-8 A-Sun). The Bears also kept place in the race for the Atlantic Sun regular season championship, remaining all-square with Florida Gulf Coast in the loss column of the league's standings.
Three Mercer players reached double-figure scoring in the win, led by senior guard Travis Smith's 13 points. Smith also added three rebounds and an assist in the winning effort.
Juniors Daniel Coursey and Bud Thomas each tallied 12 points, with Coursey collecting four rebounds and a block and Thomas registering six assists, four steals, two rebounds and a block.
Coursey's classmate and counterpart at center, Monty Brown, also made considerable contributions to the Orange and Black victory. Brown piled up seven points, five blocks and four rebounds in 14 minutes of work.
Mercer raced out to a 13-2 lead in the first 5:07 of game time and eventually went ahead by 13 before North Florida used a 14-2 surge to close within a single point. With three seconds to go before halftime the scoreboard showed a 26-26 tie when Mercer junior Langston Hall found junior Jakob Gollon open for a trey that sent the Bears to halftime leading by three.
The Bears blitzed the Ospreys out of the gate in the second period, scoring 16 points in the first six minutes to assume a 15-point advantage. North Florida couldn't get closer than 11 the rest of the way as Mercer scorched the nets to the tune of 56% (14-of-25) shooting from the field in the second half.
Gollon contributed nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals while Hall scored six and handed out six assists in the win.
Mercer returns to Atlantic Sun play on February 14 at USC Upstate. Game time is scheduled for 9 p.m.
