Thursday, November 20, 2008

Two! Two Transylvania! Ah, Ah, Ah . . .

Mercer just might win the SEC West this year.

Dominating Auburn on the offensive glass, the Mercer Bears pulled off their second straight road win against an SEC opponent, topping the Tigers 78-74. I've often said that in a guard-oriented conference, the team that controls the backboards controls the game. Stat of the night: Mercer missed 29 shots, but pulled down 14 (!!!) offensive rebounds. On Auburn misses, Mercer controlled the boards by a 32-6 margin.

Daniel Emerson was huge once again, adding 12 rebounds and 4 assists to his 12 points, for a PEG of 18 in 40 minutes of action. James Florence scored 25 points on 7-19 shooting and 7-10 free throws. As a team, Mercer shot 76% from the FT line for the night, compared to Auburn's 57%.

If Coach Bob Hoffman wants something to yell at his guys about, though, it's probably turnovers. Florence coughed the ball up 8 times, Emerson 4 more. 19 turnovers won't win you a lot of 70-possession games, even in the A-Sun.

Next up for Mercer: Georgia Tech on Saturday.

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