Thursday, March 04, 2010

MACON, Ga. - Mercer used 49 second half points to overcome a 14-point deficit and knock off Belmont in the final, first-round game of the 2010 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championships, 87-81.

Read the Atlantic Sun Insider column associated with this game here.

 

James Florence, Jeff Smith and Daniel Emerson combined for 59 points to lead Mercer past the co-regluar season champion Bruins. The Atlantic Sun featured a quartet of of co-regular season champs and Belmont became the third to fall in the first round of General Shale Brick A-Sun Championship.

Belmont scored from everywhere early on, building a 14 point lead on 7-of-12 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. The Bruins were undone in the second half by a Mercer squad that went 15-of-23 from the field in the second frame, including 4-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc.

Mercer made the most of Belmont’s mistakes, scoring 25 points off 14 Belmont turnovers. The come-from-behind win overshadowed a tremendous performance by the Belmont bench which poured in 35 points.

Conference freshman of the year, Ian Clark led the Bruins with 19, but only eight came in the second half and only one of his four 3-pointers came after halftime.

Mercer will face No. 2 Jacksonville at 9:00 p.m. on Friday. Tickets to all Championship games are available at MercerBears.com.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

A-SUN CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
* Mercer’s win marks the first time since 1996 that 3 lower seeds won the quarterfinal round… #8 FIU beat No. I Samford, 58-55, #5 Mercer beat No.4 Centenary 72-61 and No. 6 UCF beat No. 3 SLU 83-80. UCF went on to win the tournament – the only time a No. 6 has won the title.
* Mercer wins its first A-Sun Championship game since winning a quarterfinal game in 2003

BELMONT
* Belmont made its first five 3-point field goals of the game. The finished making only five of their last 24 in finishing 10-for-29.
* Freshmen Ian Clark made four 3-point field goals, increasing his season total to 74. Among freshmen in the country only FAU’s Greg Gantt (83) have made more than Clark.
* Drew Hanlen set a career high for 3-pointers with four. He had made three on four occasions, most recently against ETSU on Jan. 23.

MERCER
* With his second rebound, First-Team All-Atlantic Sun forward Daniel Emerson broke the school record for boards, previously held by Scott Farley (349), set in 1995-96.
* Emerson finished with nine rebounds. His ninth rebound of the game gave him 700 in two years with He needs three to break a conference record that has stood since the conference’s first year. Centenary’s George Lett grabbed 359 in 1978-79.
* E.J. Kusnyer’s first 3-point field goal gave him 100 on the year. He becomes the 6th player in league history to make 100 3-point field goals in a single year.
* In the last two years alone, the Bruins and Bears faced off six times with the Bears picking up their second win in that span. The six games have been decided by 25 points with no team winning by more than six.