Box score
MACON, Ga. – Travis Smith scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds as Mercer posted a 63-46 win over Northern Kentucky on Saturday, clinching a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season title.
Mercer held Northern Kentucky to 34 percent shooting from the field and finished with a 35-18 advantage in rebounds to avenge an earlier loss to the Norse. The Bears shot 51.3 percent from the field in front of a Hawkins Arena record-crowd of 3,527 and shook off a slow start to improve to 20-9 overall, 13-3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Northern Kentucky (9-15 overall, 7-9 A-Sun) led by as many as eight points early in the game, but Mercer made 58.8 percent of its shots from the field in the first half and took a 31-20 advantage into the locker room.
Eshaunte Jones finished with a game-high 19 points for the Norse, while
Ernest Watson added 10 points and five rebounds.
Jones buried a pair of 3-pointers and another jumper in the first four minutes of the game as Northern Kentucky bolted out to a 12-4 lead. Mercer, though, used a 17-4 run to take a 21-16 advantage and never trailed again.
Jones, a senior guard who played two years at Nebraska before transferring to Northern Kentucky, upped his career collegiate points total to 970. The Norse still have three games remaining this season, giving Jones an excellent chance to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Jakob Gollon added 13 points for Mercer, which extended its winning streak to eight games. Langston Hall scored 12 points and dished out seven assists for the Bears, who have not lost since Jan. 24, when Northern Kentucky defeated them by the identical score of 63-46 in Highland Heights, Ky.
Northern Kentucky plays host to North Florida at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
