January 21, 2011

Mercer Eyes Third-Consecutive Men's Basketball Win Saturday

 

Pre-Game Notes

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University’s men’s basketball team will be looking for its third-consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon when it hosts the University of North Florida at the University Center. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m.

MU (6-13, 3-5 A-Sun) has left Florida Gulf Coast University and Jacksonville University in its wake during its current win skein.

Mercer received an outstanding performance from senior forward Brian Mills in the overtime thriller win versus Jacksonville, 70-68, as his team overcame a 10-point halftime deficit. Mills tallied the fourth 20-point game of his career – all occurring this season – by dropping 24 points on the Dolphins. The Douglasville, Ga., native fried the Fish by hitting nine-of-12 from the floor, two-for-two from beyond the arc and four-of-six from the free throw stripe.

Freshman Langston Hall added nine points by dialing in three buckets from long distance. Hall raised his three-point field goal percentage to .437, which ranks third in the Atlantic Sun Conference statistics. Hall is also tied for 10^th in three-pointers made per game (2.00) and 10^th in assists (3.21 a.p.g.).

SCOUTING NORTH FLORIDA

Like the Bears, UNF is also looking to win three-consecutive games, with wins over USC Upstate and Kennesaw State behind them. The Ospreys are 7-12 overall, but have an even 4-4 mark in the A-Sun.

UNF is led by the duo of Parker Smith and Jerron Granberry who average 11. And 11.5 points per game, respectively. A third player – Andres Diaz – is narrowly off a double-figure scoring average at 9.9 p.p.g.

Diaz does top the Ospreys’ rebounding at 5.5 caroms per contest.

UNF has three other players who check in at better than 7.0 p.p.g. The trio includes: Jimmy Williams (7.4), Brad Haugabrook (7.2) and Matt Sauey (7.1).

In its last outing, North Florida scored a convincing win over Kennesaw State, 71-56. Diaz’s 21 points paced the Ospreys, followed closely by 19 from Granberry. Smith added 11 points to the win total.

Haugabrook dished off a game-leading seven assists.

GAME NOTES:

*Seniors Brian Mills and Mark Hall each reached personal milestones in the Bears’ win over Jacksonville on Thursday evening. Mills, a forward, recorded his 100^th career assist in the first half, while Hall notched his 100^th career three-point field goal made at the 4:16 juncture of the overtime period.

*Mercer holds a 9-1 advantage in its series against the University of North Florida. The Bears have won the last four meetings, including sweeping the Ospreys in 2009-10 (winning 84-79 in Jacksonville on Jan. 4 and 77-67 on Feb. 18 in Macon). UNF’s last win over MU came on Feb. 23, 2008, by a 70-61 score in Jacksonville.

*The Bears OT victory was their first victory in extra time since defeating Stetson, 88-80, on February 16, 2009. Since that time, MU had lost three-straight overtime battles.