By: by Scott Lipsky
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Markeith Cummings posted 23 points on Tuesday evening, his third straight game with 20 or more points, but the Mercer Bears were able to use a solid shooting performance in the second half to pull out a tightly contested, 78-70, decision over their in-state and conference rivals on Tuesday evening at the KSU Convocation Center. LaDaris Green matched a career-high with 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
In a game where they debuted Baby Blue uniforms to promote prostate cancer awareness on Code Blue Night at KSU Convocation Center, the Owls (5-15, 3-7 A-Sun) were able to give their 2,057 fans in attendance quite a show, staying in it to the very end.
Tied, 36-36, at halftime, despite the Owls shooting a red-hot 15-for-24 from the field (62.5 percent), a season-high for a half of basketball, Mercer (7-14, 4-6 A-Sun) made a pair of layups within the first 44 seconds after the intermission and led for the remainder of the second half. The Black and Gold would fight throughout, cutting the lead to one point on three occasions, but a key, 11-5 run over 4:55 stretched the Bears’ lead to nine with 3:07 left in the game, the start of them pulling away.
Spencer Dixon, who finished the game with 14 points as the third Owl to score in double figures, would hustle down the court after a Green block on the defensive end and quickly hit a clutch three-point basket from the left wing to make it, 69-63 with 2:22 remaining.
With new life, the Owls would make a defensive stand, forcing a miss from long distance and came down the court with a chance to cut the lead to a single possession. Dixon’s try at another three, however, would not connect. Mercer, who started out the game just 4-for-10 from the free throw line, would make nine of 12 from the charity stripe over the last 1:24 to seal it.
“We needed a couple of stops, and they had some big plays and second chance points and that was it,” Owls head coach Tony Ingle said, referring to Mercer’s 17 second-chance points on the evening, 11 of which came in the first half. “We played really good as a team, showed heart, but there are a couple of things we have to clean up. It was a great game. Both teams played hard, they just made more plays. That’s how basketball goes sometimes.”
While Mercer led for the entire second half, the lead changed hands 14 times during the first session, and the game was also tied eight times during the first 20 minutes of play. The Owls led by as many as four points in the first half, Green draining a three-pointer to make it 10-8 before making a layup after an offensive rebound by Aaron Anderson.
The Bears, who lost both games to the Owls last season, were led by Brandon Moore and Brian Mills, who had 22 and 21 points, respectively, in the absence of senior and leading scorer Jeff Smith, who went down with an injury against Jacksonville on Thursday evening. Mills added a team-high nine rebounds and also had four assists.
Anderson, who entered the evening second in the A-Sun at 7.8 rebounds per game, had another solid performance on the glass, pulling down eight boards.
The Owls shot a season-high 54.9 percent from the field, breaking the log jam of 50.9 percent, which they have shot four times this season.
With the conclusion of Tuesday’s game, the Owls have now played every A-Sun team once and are halfway finished with their conference schedule. Next up for the Black and Gold is a two-game swing on the road, starting with East Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. They then visit USC Upstate on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m.
