Mercer men survive Furman rally

Mercer started strong Thursday against Furman and held off a furious Paladins rally in the second half to pull out a 69-65 win Thursday night in Southern Conference action.

The Bears improve to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play and avenge a loss to the Paladins (9-9, 3-2) in the conference tournament semifinals last year.

Mercer jumped out to a 20-6 lead, led by as many as 19 in the first half and was up 39-23 at the half, shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

Furman responded in the second half and found its offense and got to within two points in the closing minute. But with Mercer leading by three, Furman's Stephen Croone missed a layup with 5.9 seconds left, and Ethan Stair hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to seal it.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Stephon Jelks: The Bears' leading scorer finished with 13 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the floor.

Jestin Lewis: The senior guard also had 13 points, hitting three 3-pointers.

Stair: The freshman came off the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds.

OBSERVATIONS

Strong at the line (until the end): Mercer hit 11 of its first 12 free throws, but then the Bears missed five straight in the final minute (two each from Lewis and Stair and one from Phillip Leonard) to finish 13-of-20. Furman shot 6-of-12 at the foul line.

Running the show: Leonard had 11 points, and he continues to be strong and smart with the ball, finishing with seven assists and just two turnovers.

WORTH MENTIONING

Paladins' 3-point barrage: Furman was 4-of-12 from the 3-point line in the first half, but it came alive from distance in the second half, hitting 7-of-15 to finish with 11 3-pointers.

Big crowd: The Bears' first home game since Jan. 2 against Samford was played in front of an overflow crowd of 3,672 at Hawkins Arena.

Talented Croone: Croone, who is from Covington, is the only senior in Furman's starting lineup, and he came up big Tuesday night with 27 points, including 20 in the second half. Croone hit five 3-pointers.

THEY SAID IT

Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman on the win: “It was amazing how our guys were ready. They were really ready, and I think we caught them off guard at the beginning because we were prepared, and guys got in the gaps and made the extra pass, and we were able to keep them out on the perimeter.”

Hoffman on the Croone: “I don’t know if there’s a better guard around. He’s tough to guard. He’s a tough player.”

Jelks on the victory: “It was an ugly win, but we still found a way to get it done. People made big plays when we needed them to, so it was just a tremendous win team-wise.”

Jelks on Furman’s strong second half: “I felt like we lost a lot of our energy from the first half, and we let them get their momentum and their energy coming, but we still found a way.”

Lewis on holding off the Paladins: “It’s definitely nice to pull out a win like that. Basketball is a game of runs anyway. We knew they were going to come out and go on a big run, but we just focused on staying together, and we just had to keep playing and pull it out.”

Lewis on the large crowd at Hawkins Arena: “Without our fans, our record probably wouldn’t be the same. We love them. I love playing in front of a crowd like that; we all do. It gives us energy, and that helped us get the momentum early in the game.”

WHAT'S NEXT?

Mercer hosts Wofford on Saturday afternoon.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 9:12 PM with the headline "Mercer men survive Furman rally ."