December 30, 2011

Bears Close Five-Game Road Swing with Win at Navy, 65-56

ANNAPOLIS, Md. –After nearly 5,000 miles of travel over the course of the past two weeks – and five consecutive road games – the Mercer men’s basketball team closed out calendar year 2011 with a 65-56 victory at Navy.

With the win, the Bears improved to 9-6 overall and were 8-5 in completing their slate of non-conference games for 2011-12. The team’s .615 winning percentage for out-of-conference contests is the best by a Mercer team since the 2004-05 team went 5-2 (.714) outside the A-Sun.

The win by MU also extended the Midshipmen’s (3-10) current losing streak to six games.

However, Navy’s record would not have been easily diagnosed by the way the Middies came out in the first half of play, slashing a seven-point Mercer lead midway through the period and actually carrying a 26-24 advantage into the locker room at the half. Navy forced MU into 13 first-half turnovers in garnering the lead at the intermission.

Mercer regrouped in the locker room and, for what has become a trademark of this MU squad, dug down and emerged with the win.

“In the second half we found a way to win,” MU head coach Bob Hoffman said. “(The Bears) have the resiliency it takes to play back-to-back-to-back games. It’s not easy.  At the end of the day, they know how to win.”

Navy extended its lead to four points early in the second half when Jordan Sugars (21 points) canned a three-pointer at the 16:10 mark of the second half. But the Bears responded immediately and took the lead they would not relinquish on a Jakob Gollon (12 points) layup with 13:58 left to play.

MU could not shake the pesky Midshipmen as Navy responded to a Mercer bucket on four-straight possessions to get to within a single point each time, the last at the 7:12 mark. But the Middies would get no closer as Mercer extended its lead.

A trey by Justin Cecil (7 points) got the ball rolling, followed by a Paul Larsen jumper to make it 50-44 in the host team’s favor.

Navy’s last gasp came with 2:09 remaining as a Sugars free throw made it a one-possession game, 55-52. A three-ball from Travis Smith (11 points) made it 58-52, but a layup by the Midshipmen cut that to four on their next possession.

That’s when Gollon took matters into his own hands. The redshirt sophomore drilled a long-range shot from beyond the arc and followed that with four-consecutive free throws down the stretch as Mercer pulled ahead by 11 points, 65-54, in the waning seconds to seal the win.

The Mercer team narrowly missed the school record for field goal percentage in the win. The Bears hit 24-of-36 from the field for a .667 percentage, slightly below the game record of .700 set versus Southeastern Louisiana in 1980-81.

The Bears also held a decided edge on the glass by a 31-to-16 margin. Gollon’s eight boards led MU. Gollon also led his team with six assists and two steals.

While Gollon and Smith were the only Bears in double figures, a balanced offensive output saw a total of seven players with seven or more points on the night.

Mercer will resume Atlantic Sun Conference action on Monday (Jan. 2) at home versus Florida Gulf Coast University. Tipoff at the University Center is slated for 7:30 p.m.