Saturday, January 16, 2010

SPARTANBURG, S. C. – Senior forward Daniel Emerson notched his tenth double-double performance of the year with 17 points and 12 rebounds and the Bears stymied USC Upstate in the closing seconds to take a 60-57 win in Friday night’s Atlantic Sun men’s basketball game.

Mercer jumps to 9-8 (5-2 A-Sun) and pulled even with Lipscomb (8-8, 5-2 A-Sun) for second-place in the A-Sun standings. USC Upstate suffered its tenth-straight loss and fell to 1-15 (1-5 A-Sun).

“We were real fortunate to finish against a good team in a great atmosphere tonight,” Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman said. “Our guys gutted it out and found a way to win.”

Trailing 60-55 with 16 seconds left, USC Upstate sophomore guard Carter Cook gathered an offensive rebound and converted a layup to pull the Spartans within three. After a quick foul, the Spartans benefited from Mercer’s first missed free throw of the night and raced the other way looking to tie the game.

Mercer’s perimeter defenders handcuffed the USC Upstate shooters and forced freshman Ryan LeGates into a fade-away three as time ran out. LeGates’ attempt came up well short and Mercer was victorious for the fifth-straight game.

All told, Mercer hit 14-of-15 free throws in the game.

Up 54-51 with just under two minutes remaining, the Bears scored the game’s next four points to go out in front by seven.

On USC Upstate's next possession, LeGates nailed a straight-away jumper and then junior Menzie Uzochukwu stole the inbounds pass, leading to free throws that brought the Spartans within three (58-55) with 80 seconds left.

Neither team scored again until Mercer junior guard Jeff Smith buried a pair of free-throws with 29 seconds left (60-55) to set up the final sequence.

Smith finished with ten points and five assists in 38 minutes played. Senior guard James Florence recorded his 38th-straight game in double figure scoring with 15 points. Florence also contributed three assists, two blocks and a steal to the win.

Junior guard Mark Hall played an important role in the win, scoring five points, handing out two assists and adding a steal.