Mercer closes strong to defeat George Mason, 69-60

Three Patriots scored in double-figures, but Mercer outscored George Mason 43-32 in the second half to move to 2-0 with a 69-60 victory. Freshman Otis Livingston II led all scorers with a career-high 17 points.

GAME NOTES
-Mason held its largest lead of 11 points at the 12:27 mark in the second half. Mercer’s largest lead of the contest was the final score, 69-60.
-Trailing by six with 3:31 to play, three Patriots (Livingston, Gujanicic, Grayer) combined for a 6-0 Patriot run, tying the score at 58-58 with 1:38 to play.
-The Bears finished the game with an 11-2 run fueled by an 8-8 effort at the charity stripe to account for the final score.
-The Patriots opened the contest strong, racing out to an 8-2 lead, but the Bears quickly attacked their deficit, taking their first lead with just over six minutes expired.
-The first half would see the score tied eight different times with neither team holding a lead larger than Mason’s six points early in the contest.
-Mercer closed the first half with a 3-for-4 effort at the free throw line as Mason led 28-26 at the halftime break.
-The Bears quickly took the lead to start the second half, but Mason used a 16-4 run to grab its largest lead of 11 points at 46-35 with 12:29 to play.
-Mercer answered with a 13-4 run of its own to regain the lead and hold the lead for the remainder of the contest until Mason tied the contest with just over a minute to play.

STAT BREAKDOWN
-Mason shot 42.2 percent (27-64) from the field including a 46.7 percent second half effort.
-Mercer shot 41.1 percent (23-56) and was 19-for-21 (90.5%) from the charity stripe.
-Mason saw only four opportunities at the charity stripe, going 1-for-4.
-Mason won the edge on glass, 38-31, after leading 22-11 at halftime. Mercer out-rebounded Mason 20-16 in the second half.
-Marquise Moore finished with seven points, six assists, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals on the night.
-Otis Livingston II recorded a career-high 17 points shooting 7-for-15 from the floor. The freshman was 3-for-9 from three-point range and also dished out five assists.
-Marko Gujanicic was one rebound shy of recording a double-double behind 14 points and nine rebounds.
-The Patriots recorded 15 assists on the night and committed 11 turnovers.
-Stephon Jelks led the Bears with 16 points, while Phillip Leonard and Demetre Rivers each contributed 10 points.

NEXT ON THE COURT
-Mason travels to Charleston, S.C. to open the Gildan Charleston Classic on Thursday facing Ole Miss at 12 p.m.The game will be streamed on ESPN3.