Mercer 67, Bethune-Cookman 46
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s basketball team scored the first 10 points, built a 17-point first half lead and were never truly threatened in a wire-to-wire 67-46 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Friday at Hawkins Arena. Junior Ike Nwamu booked his fifth 20-plus point performance of the year, leading all scorers with 22.
Mercer won for the third time in its last four chances and moved to 6-5 on the season, while Bethune-Cookman lost its third-straight and fell to 3-9.
Nwamu shot 6-of-12 from the field and posted four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block on the evening. He was joined in double-digit scoring by senior Darious Moten and junior Jibri Bryan, who scored 10 apiece.
Nwamu scored the first seven points of the game and Bryan added a corner triple to stake the Bears to the early 10-0 lead. The Bears pushed ahead by as many as 17 in the stanza while holding the Wildcats to just three made field goals in the first 14 minutes of action. The visitors finished the half strong, however, closing on a 15-7 run to trim their deficit to 33-24 by halftime.
Leonard got Mercer’s lead back to double-digits with a pull-up floater on the first possession out of the break, and the Bears started the half on a 10-4 charge to go ahead by 15. The Wildcats remained resilient again, scoring on three of the next four possessions to get back with nine.
The Bears scored the game’s next eight points and ultimately went ahead by 23 before the final buzzer. Mercer’s defense was paramount in the second half, holding Bethune-Cookman to 0-of-9 3-point shooting while forcing seven turnovers.
Nwamu scored his 20th point of the night in characteristic fashion, cutting baseline and crushing home a one-handed alley-oop slam to the delight of the Mercer faithful. Leonard’s dish was one of seven assists that he also paired with seven rebounds and six points.
Senior T.J. Hallice added nine points and seven rebounds while Jordan Strawberry and Stephon Jelks combined for 10 points off the bench.
Florida Gulf Coast 83, Furman 78
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Furman rallied from a 12-point deficit in the final three minutes to pull within a basket, but Florida Gulf Coast held on to down the Paladins, 83-78, in non-conference men’s basketball action on Friday evening at the Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
Trailing 76-64 following Julian DeBose’s three-pointer with 2:54 to play, Furman staged a furious rally. Stephen Croone drove down the lane to score and completed the three-point play at the foul line before stealing the ball from DeBose. Kendrec Ferrara scored on the next possession and drained the free throw to complete his three-point play that cut the deficit to 76-70 with 2:20 remaining.
Marc-Eddy Norella missed a layup on the other end and freshman Devin Sibley, who netted a career-high 20 points, responded with a trey to trim the Eagles’ lead to 76-73 with 1:53 to play. Brett Comer drove to the basket and notched a three-point play for FGCU, but Croone answered with a three ball for the Paladins to bring them back within three at 79-76 with 1:13 left.
After Comer drew a foul and made both free throw on FGCU’s possession, Daniel Fowler scored in traffic to bring the score to 8-178 with 36 seconds left, but the Eagles’ DeBose converted on a pair of free throws on the other end and Furman failed to score despite four looks at the basket on its final possession.
Comer scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to pace the Eagles and recorded a double-double by adding 10 assists. DeBose netted 14 points and Demetris Morant finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
The Eagles shot 48.4 percent from the floor, including 56.3 percent in the second half, and fashioned a 43-34 edge in rebounding that led to 14 second-chance points.
Sibley hit 6-of-10 shots from the field and 5-of-9 at the foul line to lead four Paladins in double figures. Croone netted 18 points to reach double figures for the 28th consecutive games, while freshman Geoff Beans and Ferrara added 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Furman shot 42.6 percent from the field and overcame a 1-for-11 effort beyond the arc in the opening half to hit 5-of-12 three-point attempts over the final 20 minutes.
FGCU used a 7-0 run midway through the first half to erase a 14-13 Furman advantage and grab the lead for good. The Eagles led by just six at 59-63 with under 7:30 to play when Comer converted on a three-point play, Norella buried a jumper and Bernard Thompson followed a Furman free throw with a three-pointer to push the margin to 13 points with under six minutes to play.
Middle Tennessee 68, Chattanooga 58
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Chattanooga Mocs dropped a 68-58 decision on the road to a hot-shooting Middle Tennessee squad in Murphy Center Friday night. The loss evens Chattanooga’s record to 6-6, while the Blue Raiders improve to 6-5.
Greg Pryor tied for game-high honors with 16 points to go with three assists and two steals. Casey Jones added 10 with two blocks and two steals. Giddy Potts led Middle with 16 of his own off the bench with a game-high seven rebounds.
The Blue Raiders built a 16-point lead, 59-43, on two Potts free throws with 6:55 to play. Eric Robertson and Justin Tuoyo took over from there. Robertson nailed a trey from the right wing before a turnover on the Blue Raiders. Tuoyo followed with a strong three-point play on the following possession.
Jaqawn Raymond drove to the basket only to be denied by Chuck Ester. Jones started the break, Robertson finished with another three in front of the Mocs bench. That 9-0 spurt closed the lead to seven, 59-52 with 5:23 to go.
Jones then made a steal in the front court. He dished to Ronrico White who scored, but was called for a charge. No matter, Pryor got a steal for the fourth straight stop. He took it to the basket to slice the margin to five, 59-54.
The Blue Raiders held strong. Jazquez Rozier and Raymond scored on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead back to nine. It would get no closer than seven from there.
Middle entered the game shooting 39.5 percent from the floor. It made 23 of 47 for a 48.9 percent clip in the win including 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range. The Mocs shot 42.4 percent (25-59) while getting beat 34-26 on the boards.
The Blue Raiders got off to a quick start before the visitors got a lift from their bench. Robertson and Duke Ethridge flipped a six-point deficit into a one-point lead with book-end threes around an Ethridge layup. Down 14-13, Middle Tennessee went on a 16-4 run to go up by 11, 29-18, on a Potts three with 1:52 until the half.
The Mocs called timeout just inside a minute to go. Pryor directed a great possession feeding Ethridge for a layup to trail 29-20 at the half.