Mercer tops Ga Tech; first win over Jackets since ‘74

Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory has been telling his team that they have to scrap their ways to win.

Mercer coach Bob Hoffman has been telling his team to keep believing.

Both teams learned those lessons on Thursday, with the Bears stunning the Yellow Jackets 65-59 on Thursday at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Center Monty Brown led Mercer with a career-high 13 points in a game that featured 13 lead changes.

"We got what we deserved," Gregory said, referencing how hard the team needs to work in practice. "It's something we have to continue to understand."

It is the Bears' first victory over the Yellow Jackets since 1974, and the second time in two seasons that Tech has lost to a team from the Atlantic Sun Conference. Kennesaw State defeated the Yellow Jackets under former coach Paul Hewitt last season.

But it's a victory that the Bears have been building toward in their previous two games. They were beaten by three in overtime by Seton Hall of the Big East, and were beaten by Georgia in a game that was tied at halftime. If not for what Hoffman called a strategic blunder in that 14-point loss, he felt his team had a chance to make a game of that, as well.

He pushed this message on the bus ride back home to his team: Don't ever give up.

"We've got to draw a line in the sand someday soon and make a statement," he told his team. "When you make a few of them that's how you change as a program."

Hoffman declined to say it's the biggest win in program history, but the fact that the Bears beat an in-state opponent from a power conference will resonate.

"This isn't the statement, but it's a big game and a good game and that's how you build a program," he said.

Tech had a seven-point lead in the second half with 8:45 left, but questionable decisions on offense stopped momentum and the solid defense that the Jackets have played this season evaporated in the final minutes. Tech was 11th in the NCAA in field-goal percentage defense (36.0) and 26th in scoring defense (57.1 points per game) before the game. The Bears shot 41.5 percent, including 50 percent in the second half. They took their final lead on an offensive rebound and putback by Jakob Gollon for a 56-54 lead with 2:17 left.

The Bears followed that with a too-easy layup by Daniel Coursey that pushed it to 58-54 with 1:36 left. He finished with 10 points.

The teams traded free throws and with Tech trailing 60-56, Glen Rice Jr., hanging in the air, pushed a one-handed pass to Morris, waiting at the wing. Morris drilled the 3-pointer to cut Tech's margin to 60-59 with 39 seconds left.

Rice fouled Travis Smith on the other end and he hit the free throws, his second consecutive set, to inflate Mercer's lead back to three, 62-59.

Gregory again called a timeout, and again Rice found Morris waiting on the wing. This time his 3-pointer rolled around the rim, but wouldn't fall, ending the Jackets' hopes of completing the rally and sending them into the Christmas break with some things to think about. The Bears outscored the Yellow Jackets in the paint in the second half, 18-10, and outscored them off turnovers, 14-8. The Bears' bench, led by Brown, outscored the Jackets', 21-12.

"They played harder than us, they worked harder than us, they got the best of us tonight, said Rice, who finished with 19 points.

The Jackets wrapped up their brief home-away-from-home stay at the Arena at Gwinnett Center with a 4-1 record. Its remaining home games, starting with the last non-conference game of the year against Alabama on Jan. 3, will be played at Philips Arena, which is also where the ACC tournament will be held. Tech will play at Fordham on Dec. 29.