December 4, 2010

Bears Fall to A-Sun Favorite Lipscomb, 77-65

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mercer University's men's basketball team battled Lipscomb University close for the majority of Saturday night's Atlantic Sun Conference bout, before eventually falling, 77-65, in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate. The loss dropped the Bears to 2-7 overall and 0-2 in the A-Sun, while the Bisons improved to 4-2 and 1-0 in league.

 

From the outset it was obvious that the Bears were undeterred by the fact that they were facing the A-Sun's pre-season favorite or the reigning "Player of the Year", as well as the leading scorer and rebounder (Adnan Hodzic).

 

Freshman Bud Thomas (nine points) – getting his first career start – got the scoring started with the first basket of the game, a three point shot. Thomas also drained a trey at the 11:30 mark to put MU back on top (16-13), a position it held until Lipscomb tied the game just before the intermission.

 

It was just the second time this season that the Bears had not trailed at halftime. There were four ties and six lead changes in the first period.

 

Mercer may not have trailed on the scoreboard, but the team had a significant loss when second-leading scorer and the team's top rebounder, Brandon Moore, left the game with 6:17 left in the stanza after taking an elbow to the nose.  Moore, who was obviously woozy as he left the floor for the locker room, would not return the rest of the game.

 

In the second half, the Bears opened with a 5-0 run to go up 33-28. But the see-saw game continued to play out the second half, as well. The game would finish with nine ties and seven lead changes and neither team would enjoy a double-digit lead until the final minute of the game.

 

Senior Brian Mills and freshman Langston Hall shared high point accolades for Mercer with 15 points each. Mills' dunk with 2:04 left in the game also put him over the 700 point plateau for his Mercer career. He currently has 702 points scored during his four years in the Orange & Black.

 

Mills also had a game-leading 12 rebounds.

 

Senior Jeff Smith came off the bench and tallied ten points. Smith also hit a Mercer milestone with his first basket – a three-pointer at 7:44 of the first half – pushed him above 500 points in his one-season-plus at Mercer.

 

Hodzic led all scorers with 28 points.