Bears Fall at Georgia, 72-58

Final	1	2	T
Mercer (7-5)	30	28	58
Georgia (6-5)	30	42	72
Stegeman Coliseum - Athens, Ga.

Mercer	Georgia
Pts: HALL, Langston - 16	Pts: Robinson, Gerald - 20
Reb: 2 Players (#05, #15 - 7)	Reb: Williams, Donte' - 8
Ast: THOMAS, Bud - 5	Ast: Robinson, Gerald - 4

Team Statistics	Mercer	Georgia
Field Goal %	40.0% (22-55 )	40.7% (24-59 )
Rebounds	34	41
Assists	13	13
Turnovers	12	7
Pts off Turnovers	5	12
2nd Chance Pts	9	12
Pts in the Paint	12	22
Fastbreak Pts	0	6
Bench Pts	15	23

full stats

ATHENS, Ga. – Mercer University’s men’s basketball team saw a tie game at halftime versus Georgia go south in the second stanza, 72-58, on Tuesday evening. The loss dropped the Bears to 7-5 overall, while the Bulldogs improved to 6-5 on the season.

It was also the 15^th-consecutive setback to UGA for the Bears. MU has not defeated Georgia since the 1958-59 season.

From the way things began, it appeared Mercer might end that dubious streak. The Bears led for the majority of the opening period. MU built a cushion of eight points – 16-8 - on a little jump-hook by Daniel Coursey (8 points) with 11:19 left until the half.

But UGA refused to succumb as the clubs exchanged four ties and four lead changes in the initial period. The teams went into the halftime locker room deadlocked at 30-30.

The opening of the second half proved to be the Bears’ undoing as Georgia reeled off a 16-3 run over the first 6:23 minutes of the period to lead by a 46-33 count. The Bulldogs extended their lead to as much as 19 with 7:53 left to play, thanks largely to shooting substantially more free throws (a 20-2 difference in the second half).

Mercer made a late run at UGA and a three-pointer by Jakob Gollon (7 points) drew the Bears to within 10 points, 61-51. However, Georgia would not allow MU to get any closer on its way to the 72-58 final.

The win was the second in a row for the Bulldogs, while Mercer suffered its second-consecutive defeat to an out-of-conference foe.

In the game, the Bulldogs connected on a total of 16-for-26 from the free throw line, compared to 5-of-9 by Mercer. UGA also held a 41-34 advantage in rebounding, including six more offensive boards.

Mercer was led in scoring byu sophomore point guard Langston Hall’s 16 points. Hall was 5-of-11 from the field, including going 4-for-7 from three point range. He chipped in three rebound, three assists and two steals, as well.

Senior Justin Cecil added seven points and seven rebounds. Cecil shared high rebound honors with Bud Thomas. Coursey added three more blocked shots to his coffers, giving him 26 rejections on the year.

“At halftime I tried to get them fired up,” MU head coach Bob Hoffman said of what he told his team at the break. “And I guess maybe it went the other way. I tried to challenged them throughout. We are better than we played that second half.

“But (Georgia) made shots. They had guys who were banking shots in; it was unbelievable. They had guys hit shots who had not been hitting shots.

“It was just one of those nights. They beat us.”

Mercer will have little time to dwell on the setback as the team makes its way to Duluth, Ga., to face Georgia Tech on Thursday evening (7 p.m.) at the Arena at Gwinnett for its third of five-straight road contests.