Mercer Men’s Basketball Clips Owls for Season Sweep of KSU

KENNESAW, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – An emotionally charged showdown of Georgia’s two Atlantic Sun men’s basketball teams went down to the wire on Friday, and Mercer executed down the stretch to come away with a 75-68 win over Kennesaw State at the KSU Convocation Center.

Mercer (19-6, 10-2 A-Sun) won its ninth game in its last 10 outings and maintained its position atop the Atlantic Sun standings, while Kennesaw State (4-21, 1-11 A-Sun) saw its losing streak run to eight.

Four Mercer players reached double figures in the win, led by senior point guard Langston Hall’s 20-point performance. Senior Bud Thomas added 16 points in the win while senior Monty Brown and junior Darious Moten added 12 and 10, respectively.

After battling through three lead changes in the second half, Mercer found itself trailing 66-64 with 3:25 to play. Moten got the ball and powered his way to the hoop for a missed layup, but kept fighting and scored the put-back with three yellow jerseys draped all over him. Moten’s old-fashioned 3-point play gave Mercer a 67-66 lead – an advantage the Bears wouldn’t surrender the rest of the way.

Moten’s play changed the momentum of the game, silencing a rabid crowd and putting the hosts on their heels. From that point on, the Bears clamped down on defense and held the Owls scoreless for the next 2:52 while securing the win.

Moten was paramount in the final minutes, scoring five of his 10 points and grabbing a rebound in the final three minutes.

Thomas’ 16-point performance leaves the Highlands Ranch, Colorado native just 11 points shy of reaching the 1,000 point plateau. Thomas also registered six rebounds, two assists and a steal in the win.

Senior Daniel Coursey narrowly missed his fifth double-double of the year, netting nine points to go along with 14 rebounds and five blocks. Hall added four assists, four steals and a rebound while Brown scored his 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and 6-of-6 aim at the free throw line.

A back-and-forth start to the game saw KSU lead 6-5 before Hall and Thomas combined for a quick 5-0 spurt to put Mercer up four at the first media stoppage. After KSU got back within one, a quick 9-2 charge capped by consecutive inside buckets for Brown gave the Bears a 14-8 edge eight minutes into the game.

Later, Mercer’s lead had grown to eight before KSU ripped off a 10-2 streak, highlighted by back-to-back and-one layups for the Owls. The series resulted in a 25-25 tie with 3:32 to play, eliminating Mercer’s hold on the lead for the first time in over 14 minutes. From there, the teams would play evenly before settling on a 29-29 tie at halftime.

KSU sophomore Orlando Coleman drained a pair of jumpers out of the break to give the hosts their biggest lead of the game at 33-30, but Mercer retaliated with an 11-2 surge fueled by 3-pointers from Hall and Thomas to go ahead 41-35.

The Owls refused to go away, cutting the lead to a single point twice in the next three minutes before ultimately going back ahead on two free throws by Myles Hamilton with 3:25 left in regulation.

Mercer secured the sweep of Kennesaw State in the final regular season Atlantic Sun meeting between the teams. The Bears are now one victory shy of reaching the 20-win mark for the third-straight season.

Mercer will go for win number 20 hosting Lipscomb on Feb. 13. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.