Jackets rally to beat Mercer in OT

Macon — Georgia Tech found itself down by eight points barely two minutes into its first visit to Mercer since 1975, and the Yellow Jackets’ uphill climb lasted all afternoon.

Once they pulled even for the first time, though — on Zachery Peacock’s two free throws with 32.4 seconds left in regulation — the formula for their 82-76 victory was simple: Let the big guys take control.

Alade Aminu and Gani Lawal combined for nine of Tech’s 13 points in overtime, completing the Jackets’ comeback from an 18-point second-half deficit.

“Coach warned us,” said Lawal, who scored 27 points, had nine rebounds and three blocked shots. “But there’s no warning. You just have to come out here and withstand it.”

The big men (Aminu, Lawal and Peacock) combined for 62 of Tech’s 82 points. Aminu scored 19 and Peacock 16, and Lawal’s two blocks in overtime allowed Tech to build a six-point lead.

It was the seventh consecutive victory over Mercer for Georgia Tech (2-0), which last lost to the Bears in Macon in 1932, and for most of the game Mercer appeared headed for a signature win in Bob Hoffman’s first season as coach.

The loss left the Bears shaking their heads.

“We had that game,” said Mercer’s James Florence, who scored 26 points. “We got content with that 18-point lead, or 16, or whatever it was. We fell back into trying to survive, as opposed to being aggressive.”

Looking to start 4-0 for the first time in 34 years, Mercer capitalized on a pair of Tech turnovers and opened with an 8-0 run, getting a pair of 3-pointers from E.J. Kusnyer (who finished with 22 points), prompting a Tech timeout before the first TV break.

The Bears made seven of their first eight shots, including two 3-pointers each by Kusnyer and Florence, setting a tone that continued until midway through the second half.

“I told our guys that if you give them opportunities to execute and gave them time, they can pick you apart,” said Tech coach Paul Hewitt.

Mercer led by as many as 11 in the first half and never trailed in regulation.

Tech pulled within one three different times. Twice the Jackets had a chance to take the lead. At 18:45 in the second half, Lawal missed two free throws, and Mercer answered with a 21-4 run, keyed by four 3-pointers by Kusnyer.

A Florence three-point play at 12:01 gave the Bears their biggest lead at 58-40. The University Center-record crowd of 3,304 started doing the wave, and Mercer, which already owned wins at Alabama and Auburn, was primed to beat SEC and ACC schools in the same season for the first time since the 1952-53 season.

Tech called a timeout at 11:30 after a basket underneath by Lawal and switched into a full-court press, and Mercer commited eight of its 28 turnovers in the final 10 minutes to fuel the comeback.

“We were all saying the same thing in that timeout,” said Lawal. “‘We’re going to win the game.’ We didn’t know how, but we were going to win the game.”