Guard Kenny Gaines scored nine of his 13 points in the third overtime to spark Georgia to a 86-77 victory against feisty Mercer on Saturday at the Stegeman Coliseum.
Georgia (7-3) outscored the Bears 14-5 in the third overtime and posted its fourth consecutive victory.
“I just kept shooting. I knew eventually one of them would fall,” said Gaines, who was 5-for-14 from the field.
Gaines also had 10 rebounds, five assists and only one turnover.
“I thought him I thought he played awful,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “But he’s a tough competitor and he kept battling.”
The Bulldogs also got 22 points and five assists from Charles Mann, 17 points and nine rebounds from Nemanja Djurisic and 17 points and 11 rebounds from Marcus Thornton, who fouled out.
Mercer (6-7) was led by Jordan Strawberry with 21 points and six assists. Jestin Lewis added 15 points.
Georgia has beaten the Bears 18 consecutive times, a streak that dates to 1959.
“I thought Mercer played their tails off,” Fox said. “We’ve played them four times since I’ve been here and it’s never been easy. Bob Hoffman is such a good coach and their kids play the right way. We were fortunate to win.”
Hoffman said, “I told them they fought their tails off, they played like champions and they deserved to win tonight against a really, really good team. It’s just one of those teams that should be in the tournament. I’d be shocked if they weren’t.”
Mercer tied the game at the buzzer in regulation on a 3-pointer by Strawberry, son of former major league slugger Darryl Strawberry. He rebounded Ike Nwamu’s missed trey, dribbled to the corner and connected from a step beyond the arc.
“I saw the guy coming and I was going to try and pump fake and get him in the air,” Strawberry said. “And when he went in the air, I had a normal shot. I was nervous while it was in the air, but it went in.”
The Bears had a chance to win in the first overtime. Mercer took over with 18.5 seconds left after Mann was whistled for traveling. Strawberry deliberately dribbled until about four seconds left when he missed a 15-footer and Georgia’s Djurisic rebounded. The Bulldogs had to go the length of the court and Mann missed a long-range jumper at the horn, leaving the score tied at 62.
In the second overtime, Georgia trailed by two points with 20 seconds left. The Bulldogs patiently moved the ball until Mann found Gaines open under the basket. His field goal with four seconds left tied the game at 72.
Gaines opened the third overtime with a long jumper and was fouled. Mann then knocked in a 3-pointer and Gaines followed with two more 3-pointers to put the game away.
Georgia shot poorly in the first half, making just 10 of 28 (36 percent), but were able to pull away for a 32-23 halftime lead thanks to its dominance on the glass. Georgia out-rebounded Mercer 25-12 in the opening half, but had little luck converting the rebounds into points.
While the offense was struggling, the defense was doing its part in the first half. Mercer shot just 33 percent from the field on 8-for-24 shooting.
Georgia appeared to have the game in hand when Mann drove the baseline and scored on a reverse layup with 17:16 left, a basket that gave the Bulldogs a 12-point lead. But Mercer kept coming back and eventually closed the lead to 37-33 on a short jumper from Ike Nwamu with 11:37 remaining.
The Dogs re-established control thanks to the inside presence of Thornton, who scored on a layup and made a free throw on consecutive trips down the floor that pushed the lead back to seven points at 40-33.
Mercer refused to let Georgia go without a fight. The Bears trimmed the lead to four points on two other occasions, only to have the Bulldogs take it inside and come away with free throws. Mercer didn’t tie the game until Strawberry’s 3-pointer at the horn.
“We were fortunate to win,” Fox said. “I did not think we played particularly well, but we did win the game.”
Georgia made a season-worst 33-percent from the field after 40 minutes, but shot 56.5 percent in the three overtimes, and wound up shooting 40.8 percent.
