Sixth-seeded Florida Gulf Coast upsets host Mercer

The place was packed, and electric, and filled with orange.

And Florida Gulf Coast pulled the plug.

FGCU did just enough at the free-throw line down the stretch in a game of big plays to stun Mercer 62-58 Friday night in an A-Sun semifinal game at the University Center.

A full 500 miles from home and with more than 95 percent of those on hand very much against the Eagles, the sixth seed wasn't fazed en route to knocking off their second higher seed in the tournament.

The Eagles advance to the tournament championship game in their first year of eligibility since reclassifying from Division II. They'll play top seed Belmont, a 69-61 winner over fourth-seeded East Tennessee State.FGCU improved to 15-16 in avenging two losses to Mercer - 76-54 and 75-66 - in the regular season.

"I don't believe we could lose against another team three times in a row," FGCU's Bernard Thompson said. "We were just going to come out and play hard."

The Eagles got revenge Friday night over USC Upstate, knocking off the third-seed and 20-win Spartans 71-61. Upstate had won 80-75 and 87-74 in the regular season.

Mercer dropped to 22-11, one win short of tying the school record, set in 2002-03 when the Bears shared the regular-season title and went 23-6.

"We played well; it was a great basketball game," Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman said. "They hit some shots at the end to get it done."

The Bears will be in the running for the National Invitation Tournament, College Basketball Invitational and CollegeInsider.com tournament.

FGCU went 6-for-8 from the line in the final 1:35, and Mercer finished 10-for-18.

Jake Gollon led Mercer with 17 while Langston Hall added 16. Sherwood Brown had 14 for FGCU and Christophe Varidel 13.

It was all Gollon and Hall could do to muster up the energy to make it to the interview room after the shocker.

"We knew everything they were going to do," Hall said. "They hit some shots, some big-time shots.We didn't always execute all the stuff that Coach called sometimes."

The game was tied for the sixth time early in the second half when Mercer finally got moving a bit and eased out to a nine-point lead on Hall's bucket with 11:20 left.

"We had separation in the second half," Hoffman said. "We just couldn't get a play. They hit several 3s, and that's the stretch right there that got them back in the game. They really executed well during that time when we had that lead.

Two Varidel jumpers started the Eagles' rally and then the game became one of exchanging big plays for a few stretches. After a missed free throw was tipped out to Brett Comer, Chase Fielder scored on a tip to bring FGCU within 55-54 with 3:55 remaining.

The big plays continued to go back and forth, Hall and Comer exchanging them on consecutive trips as Mercer held a 57-56 lead inside the three-minute mark.

Comer drove and drew a foul with two seconds left on the shot clock and made one to tie it at 57 with 1:35 left.Hall fell at the top of key and lost the ball, and Brown made two free throws with 35.6 seconds for FGCU's first lead since late in the first half.

Hall nearly stumbled again, and missed a 3-pointer, but Smith was fouled on the rebound with 12 seconds left.The 82.6-percent free-throw shooter made the first, FGCU called time, and then he missed the second.Bernard Thompson was fouled immediately on the rebounds and made the second. Gollon went to the line with 2.7 seconds left and missed the first.

Mercer called timeout, and Gollon intentionally missed the second, and Mercer was called for a lane violation. Another timeout followed and Varidel was fouled with two seconds left and sealed it by making both.An overflow crowd of 3,497 - 109 percent of capacity and boosted in part by ticket giveaways - left stunned and heartbroken.

"We was hungry," Thompson said. "We just wanted it more than they did. I saw fear in their eyes, and we were ready to give it to them, and take it away from them."FGCU showed immediately that intent on hanging around, showing plenty of energy despite a tiring quarterfinal win the night before.

They played with the confidence of the favorite, not the urgency of the underdog, easing out to a 21-14 lead and keeping the Bears from much fluidity on offense or getting the ball inside to utilize their height advantage.Mercer possessions regular lasted deep into the shot clock, and not by design.

The first half ended in the fifth tie of the opening 20 minutes, with the Eagles having the lead a chunk more than the Bears.

FGCU seemed to have the homecourt touch, hitting 48 percent to Mercer's 40.7. Scoring balance was lacking for Mercer, with Gollon's 12 accounting for 66.7 percent of his team's first-half points.

It was quite a change from the teams' meeting here on Jan. 2, when Mercer never trailed and led by 20 at halftime, upping the margin to 28 in the second half.

This time around, breathing room was nonexistent, until the Eagles' sigh of relief and the Bears' hearts breaking at the buzzer.

"These guys gave great effort all year," Hoffman said. "It didn't turn out the way they wanted or I wanted. We'll load up and try and get better."

This story was originally published March 3, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Sixth-seeded Florida Gulf Coast upsets host Mercer."