November 4, 2010

Balanced Bears Blast Bobcats, 85-58

Box Score (PDF)

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University wrapped up its final pre-season contest with an 85-58 win over Georgia College in an exhibition game at the University Center before a crowd of 1,471. The Bears will take the court for real next Friday (Nov. 12, 7 p.m.) at home versus Oglethorpe University.

The big win over the Bobcats was highlighted by a very balanced MU offense that had 12 different players score, yet only two – seniors Brian Mills and Brandon Moore – would reach double figures.

Mills hit 5-of-7 from the field and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw stripe on his way to a team-high 16 points. The forward also shared high rebound honors (with GCSU's Josh Hurst) by grabbing eight boards in just 20 minutes on the floor.

Moore was also 5-of-7 from the field and connected on 4-of-5 from the charity stripe for a 14-point effort. Moore had two of Mercer's four blocks, as well.

Senior Jeff Smith contributed nine points, as did freshman big man Daniel Coursey. Fellow frosh post player Paul Larsen and senior guard Mark Hall both booked seven points for the Mercer cause.

Freshman point guard Langston Hall – who is the heir-apparent to the spot left by the graduation of all-time scoring leader James Florence – dished off five assists, had five points and made two steals in his 26 minutes of work.

The visiting Bobcats actually led 12-10 seven minutes into the game, but the Bears' depth began to take its toll on GCSU.  MU led by as much as 13 points late in the first stanza, before settling on a nine-point halftime cushion, 37-28.

The second half was dominated by the Bears, outscoring GC, 48-30, in the segment and cruising home with the win. While the Bobcats shot around 41 percent from the field in each half, Mercer hit just 31 percent in the first half before blistering the nets in the second 20 minutes by shooting 72 percent, for an average of nearly 52 percent for the night shooting.

The Bears were buoyed by their free throws shooting as a team, as well, tallying 18-of-22 tosses, 81.8 percent for the game. Conversely, the rim must have looked like sealed Mason jar as the Bobcats managed to can just 13-of-23 shots with the clock off, just 56.5 percent.

"The first half we were making plays but we were so focused in one little aspect we didn't pass the ball as much as we have in practice," said MU head coach Bob Hoffman. "We talked about it at halftime and in the second half I thought we moved the ball lot better and got it inside. We played a whole lot of guys and I didn't think there was too much drop-off; all those guys contributed."

While the MU offense was certainly firing, the defense is what may have taken a giant step forward. In addition to the four blocked shots, the Bears had 11 steals as a team and held Georgia College to just 1-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc.

"(Assistant coach Doug Esleeck) has done a good job with that," praised Hoffman. "Our staff did a good job preparing for them. (Georgia College) is going to run good stuff and you've still got to guard it and I thought we did do a good job of that – for the most part – tonight."