February 24, 2011

Bears Fall to A-Sun Leader Belmont, 75-64

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University's men's basketball team could not overcome the depth and balance of Atlantic Sun Conference leader Belmont University's roster, falling at home by a 75-64 score at the University Center.

The Bears (13-17, 10-9 A-Sun) trailed at halftime, 39-32, and the methodical Bruins (26-4, 18-1 A-Sun) led by as much as 24 points in the second half. A late surge by the MU squad got the team to within the 11-point final score.

Brian Mills led all scorers with 15 points, buoyed by a five-of-seven night from the free throw stripe. Mills also had a game-leading eight rebounds. It was Mills' 24^th double-digit scoring game of the season, on a night he was honored in a pre-game ceremony for scoring his 1,000^th career point back on Feb. 15.

Justin Cecil was the only other Bear in double figures, tallying 11 points off the bench. Jake Gollon added nine points and Bud Thomas eight.

Belmont's high scorer was Kerron Johnson with 12 points. Mick Hedgepeth and Jordan Campbell each added 10. 11 of the 12 players seeing action for the Bruins scored in the game, eight of whom booked five or more points.

"(Belmont) Coach (Rick) Byrd does a good job," MU head coach Bob Hoffman said. "We took away a few things, but we didn't take away enough things. We also didn't get to the free throw line as much the second half and I thought that was a big issue for us.

"I thought we kind of lost our energy for a spell and they just kept coming at us."

As a team, Mercer actually out-shot Belmont 43 to 40 percent from the field. However, the Bruins connected on four more three-point baskets (nine to five) than did MU.

Belmont did manage nine steals compared to just three thefts by Mercer.

The Bears will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon versus Lipscomb University at 4:30 p.m. at the University Center. It will be "Senior Day" for MU, as all four seniors – Mills, Mark Hall, Jeff Smith and Brandon Moore – are honored pre-game.