Tulsa Tops Bears, 68-62

TULSA, Okla. – Mercer University’s men’s basketball battled back from a 10-point second half deficit, but in the end it was Tulsa hanging on for the 68-62 win on its home floor. The loss dropped the Bears to 8-6 overall.

The Golden Hurricane blew out to a 10-point lead by the 6:18 mark of the opening stanza, thanks to a pair of free throws by Tim Peete (10 points).  Tulsa would eventually settle on a 34-27 halftime cushion.

TU opened the second half with a trey to lead by ten points for the second time in the game.

But it was at that juncture that Mercer began to mount its comeback. The Bears would eventually overtake Tulsa, 48-47 with 7:43 left to play on a jumper by Daniel Couresy (10 points, 6 blocks). A few moments later, a three-ball by Jakob Gollon upped that advantage to two, 53-51.

Tulsa would reel off five-unanswered points to move in front 58-53. The Golden Hurrican never trailed again, in handing the Bears their third loss in four outings on their current road series.

Gollon’s 12 points led the Mercer team. The redshirt sophomore canned five-of-10 from the floor. He also pulled down five rebounds and had five assists.

Junior Travis Smith came off the MU bench with 11 points and for rebounds. He also dished off four assists.

Tulsa held a decisive 41-28 margin on the glass, including 15-8 on offense.