MACON, Ga. –  A gutsy effort by No. 5 seed Mercer University was not enough as the season came to a close with a loss to top-seeded Belmont University, 80-72, in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball championship semifinals. The Bears (15-18 overall) drew the curtain on a season which ended with great success after losing two senior starters to injury mid-campaign in 2010-11.

The Bruins utilized their depth in building an 11-point halftime cushion. All eleven Belmont players who played in the game would score at least two points in the contest, with four players reaching double figures.

Mercer tried to make a move in the second half, getting the margin to three points after a pair of Brian Mills free throws with 3:07 left to play. But the Bears could get no closer as the Bruins seemed to have an answer for each MU uprising.

Mills closed out his Mercer career with his fifth double-double of the year, scoring game-high totals in both points (21) and rebounds (10). Mills connected on 11-of-16 free throws, the second-most ever made by an MU player in an A-Sun tournament game.

Bears' reserve Jake Gollon scored a career-high 19 points as the only other MU player in double digits. Justin Cecil added eight points. MU's only other senior able to play – Mark Hall – added six points in his final game in the Orange & Black.

MU freshman point guard Langston Hall had five points and a game-leading five assists.

Mercer actually out-shot the Bruins by a fractional margin (44.0 to 44.9 percent). However, BU out-rebounded the Bears by a 35-27 gap. Belmont also registered five blocked shots.