Mercer University
Fla. Gulf Coast
Men's Basketball Tops FGCU; Takes Lead in A-Sun Standings
1/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – Seniors Langston Hall and Daniel Coursey both booked double-double efforts to power the Mercer men's basketball team to a sensational 68-55 win over Florida Gulf Coast in front of a sold-out Hawkins Arena crowd on Thursday evening.
Mercer's sixth-straight win elevated the team to 16-5 (7-1 A-Sun) on the year and puts the Bears in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings. Florida Gulf Coast (12-9, 6-2 A-Sun) fell a game behind Mercer with their second-straight road loss.
Coursey's fifth double-double of the year featured 14 points and 12 rebounds in addition to four blocks and three steals. With his four rejections, Coursey's career block total jumped to 176, surpassing Wesley Duke for the program career record. Coursey's historic night also featured another career milestone, as the Savannah native scored his 800th point in the win.
Hall was in outstanding command of the Mercer offense, dishing a career-high 11 assists while netting 18 points. His efforts helped Mercer outshoot FGCU 41.4%-35% from the floor in the win, marking the sixth-straight game Mercer has outshot its opponent.
Both teams matched stride-for-stride at the start and entered the first media timeout locked in a 7-7 tie. FGCU briefly went ahead 11-7 out of the break before back-to-back dunks by sophomore Ike Nwamu and Coursey spurred a quick 7-0 run for the Bears. Hall was the catalyst of the stretch, notching three assists in less than a minute while bringing the black-clad throng of Mercer supporters to its feet.
FGCU came back to tie matters at 17-17, and later were behind by just three when a Darious Moten 3-pointer ignited a 10-2 charge that put Mercer up 34-23 with 3:15 remaining in the half. The Eagles maintained composure and scored the final five points of the half to go into the break trailing by six.
The Eagles continued their run out of intermission, scoring four unanswered to get within a single bucket before Mercer exploded for a 10-0 streak to go ahead 45-32 with 14:42 to play. The visitors could never regain control, as the Mercer lead would swell to 19 midway through the half.
Mercer would eventually go up by as many as 20 (59-39) with 6:47 to go before the Eagles began to mount a comeback. The effort proved to be too-little, too-late, as FGCU couldn't get any closer than nine the rest of the way.
Mercer improved to 41-4 in its last 45 home games and 22-1 in its last 23 regular season A-Sun home games. Coursey and Hall's double-double performances marked the first time Mercer has had two players with double-doubles since Daniel Emerson and Brian Mills accomplished the feat against Piedmont on Dec. 10, 2009.
Senior Bud Thomas narrowly missed his fourth-straight game in double-figure scoring, tallying nine points with three rebounds and a steal in the win. As a team, Mercer piled up a season-high 10 steals while forcing FGCU into 15 turnovers.
Mercer outscored FGCU in the paint (31-28), off turnovers (14-9) and off the bench (20-7) in the win. The Bears' 34-27 scoring edge in the second half marked the 18th time in 21 games this season that Mercer has outscored the opponent in the final 20 minutes.
Mercer continues A-Sun play hosting Stetson for a 3 p.m. tip on Saturday.
