Mercer Men’s Basketball Cruises to 74-58 Win at Northern Kentucky

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (MERCER RELEASE) – Senior Langston Hall booked his sixth 20-plus point scoring total of the season to power the Mercer men’s basketball team to a 74-58 win over Northern Kentucky at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Thursday night.

Mercer’s ninth win in its last 10 games sent the Bears to 14-5 (5-1 A-Sun) while NKU saw its five-game home court winning streak snapped and fell to 7-12 (3-4 A-Sun).

Seniors Bud Thomas and Daniel Coursey joined Hall in double figures, scoring 16 and 10 respectively. Thomas’ night was highlighted by 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range while Coursey paired his points with six rebounds and three blocks. The three rejections leave Coursey just two short of breaking Wesley Duke’s program record of 173 career blocks.

Hall collected 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor while also tallying five assists, two steals and a pair of rebounds. The effort was Hall’s 13th career 20-plus point game.

Early on, Mercer found locked in a 7-7 tie before five-unanswered points scored by Hall gave Mercer its first separation of the evening. The Norse battled back with a 9-2 run to go in front before Bud Thomas stopped the bleeding with a deep 3-pointer.

Later, Mercer trailed 19-17 before clamping down on the defensive end and holding the Norse without a field goal for nearly six minutes of game time. The renewed defensive intensity resulted in a 15-1 Mercer run that lasted 5:59 of game time and put the visitors on top by 12. Hall got the last laugh of the half, converting a four-point play with 51 seconds left to send Mercer to the dressing room ahead 38-23.

Thomas stayed hot out of the break, scoring the opening five points of the second half to give Mercer its biggest lead of the game at 43-25. The Norse wouldn’t go away, however, retaliating with three-straight 3-pointers to get back within a single-digit margin.

The Norse hung around until the 13:37 mark, when the Bears began another assault, this time a 7-0 quick strike in just 1:24 to put Mercer back in front by 18. From there, Mercer’s lead would range between 14-20 points before the final buzzer.

Mercer shot better than 50% from the floor for the seventh time this season, finishing Thursday night’s action with 27-of-50 shooting (54%). NKU, conversely, was held to 42% shooting on 21-of-50 field goals.

Mercer resumes its two-game road swing at Lipscomb on Saturday. Game time at Allen Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.