Mercer University
Samford
Men's Basketball Cruises Past Samford, 80-56
1/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team busted open a 15-point lead just over five minutes in and was never threatened en route to an 80-56 victory over Samford on Saturday at Hawkins Arena.
Mercer won its third-straight, improving to 11-9 (6-1 SoCon) while Samford fell for the fifth consecutive time and dropped to 7-14 (0-9 SoCon).
Junior Ike Nwamu led all scorers with 22 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists. Junior Jibri Bryan collected 18 points and five rebounds while senior Darious Moten chipped in 11 points and six boards.
Mercer had the sell-out Hawkins Arena crowd jumping early, as the Bears raced out to a 17-2 lead, 11 points of which scored by Nwamu. The highlight of the spurt came as Nwamu converted a spinning layup while being fouled, bringing Mercer's supporters to their feet just before the first media timeout.
By the 13:23 mark of the first half, the Bears had converted 5-of-6 3-point attempts and led 20-5. The Bulldogs put together a quick 7-1 run midway through the stanza to get within nine, and ultimately got as close as eight before the Bears finished on an 11-5 charge to take a 40-26 halftime lead.
Mercer shot a blistering 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field after halftime, maintaining a double-digit advantage the entire way. The hosts would eventually take their largest lead of the night with 1:29 to play, as sophomore Matt Panaggio dished to freshman Tyre Moore for a corner three and a 76-47 lead.
Mercer's reserves tallied 19 second-half points, led by freshman Jordan Strawberry's six. Moore finished with five points, while junior Jestin Lewis and freshman Stephon Jelks each had three and freshman Demetre Rivers scored two.
The win was Mercer's sixth wire-to-wire triumph of the year and pushed the team to 8-1 at Hawkins Arena. The Bears also assumed an outright claim to first place in the Southern Conference standings, jumping ahead of idle Chattanooga (5-1).
The Bears resume SoCon play on Jan. 22, traveling to Western Carolina for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
