Mercer Men’s Basketball Succumbs to FGCU, 75-61

FORT MYERS, Fla. (MERCER RELEASE) – Senior point guard Langston Hall scored a game-high 16 points, but the men’s basketball team was outrebounded 48-29 and shot a season-low 34.4 percent from the floor in a 75-61 loss to Florida Gulf Coast in front a record Alico Arena crowd of 4,633 on Friday night.

Mercer 21-7 (12-3 A-Sun) saw its three-game winning streak snapped while Florida Gulf Coast won the sixth game in its last seven outings and jumped to 18-10 (12-3 A-Sun). The Bears and the Eagles are now tied atop the A-Sun standing with just three games to play.

With a FGCU-promoted white-out in effect, the Bears and Eagles gave the patrons a terrific showing for the majority of the game, as neither team could gain more than a seven-point separation in the first 32 minutes.

The turning point came as the Eagles broke away from a two-point game with a 15-1 surge that elapsed 3:36 of game time. The run was capped by an Eric McKnight jam that sent the Alico Arena crowd into a frenzy and put the hosts ahead 59-41 with 4:51 to play. The Bears battled hard in the final minutes, but couldn’t close the gap any closer than 14.

Early on, FGCU led 14-9 when Hall found senior Anthony White Jr. for a long triple to get Mercer within two. White Jr. continued to make a difference on the defensive end, forcing a turnover in the backcourt that would ultimately lead to a Jakob Gollon jumper and a 14-14 tie.

With 6:26 to go in the first, the teams had played to an even 17-17 score before a FGCU 7-0 run in 1:26 gave the Eagles their biggest separation of the half. The Bears finished strong though, scoring five unanswered before a Brett Comer layup sent the hosts to halftime ahead 26-23.

Mercer’s season low shooting percentage yielded just 61 points, tying its Feb. 2 loss at USC Upstate for the lowest offensive output of the year. The Bears were outmatched on the glass for just the second time in the last 12 games.

Hall’s 16 points came on the strength of 8-of-10 shooting at the free throw line to go along with three assists and three steals. Sophomore Ike Nwamu joined him in double figures, netting 11 to go along with three rebounds in 18 minutes of work.

FGCU and Mercer split the season series for the second-straight season. If the league standings were to show a tie between the teams at season’s end, the tie breaker would go to the team with the best record against common opponents in descending order of league rankings.

Mercer returns to action with the final road game of the regular season on Sunday. Game time at the Edmunds Center is scheduled for 1 p.m.