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Gardner-Webb defeats Mercer 81-72 Monday, Feb 7, 2005 By Marc Rabb |
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (BP)--Gardner-Webb point guard T.J. McCullough dominated play Feb. 5, posting 15 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and six steals to lead the Bulldogs to an 81-72 win over Mercer in a key Atlantic Sun Conference match-up.The win gives the Bulldogs (12-9, 9-5 A-Sun) sole possession of first place once more in the Atlantic Sun's tightest race ever, snapping a three-way tie between GWU, Mercer and Belmont. Belmont fell at home to Jacksonville Saturday afternoon. Jacksonville (9-6 A-Sun) sits only a half game behind Gardner-Webb in second place -- with Mercer (12-8, 8-6 A-Sun), Belmont and UCF all tied for third place. Gardner-Webb's McCullough made 5-of-10 shots from the floor and had six of his rebounds on the defensive end for Gardner-Webb. McCullough set up GWU center Simon Conn for several easy baskets underneath, dishing off five of his six assists in the second half directly to Conn for lay-ups. Conn took advantage of McCullough's generosity, making 12-of-14 shots to finish with 26 points and 10 rebounds -- tying his season-high set in December at the University of Colorado. Brian Bender added 17 points for Gardner-Webb, making all six of his free throws in the game. The Bulldogs went on an 11-4 run midway through the first half to get on track, notching three-pointers from Bret Noonan and McCullough and a dunk by freshman Jake Didion to take a 28-19 lead with 9:25 left before intermission. Mercer answered quickly, going to its bench to take control. After Bender nailed a three-pointer to give GWU a 31-22 lead with 8:29 to play in the half, the Bears managed an 18-3 run to advance to a 41-34 lead just two minutes before the break. Reserve Ross Alacqua, who came off the bench to score 10 of his 13 points in the first half, made three straight shots in the spurt. An old-fashioned three-point play by Sam Dolan gave Mercer its largest lead, 44-36, with 56 ticks on the clock, but Gardner-Webb got a jumper from McCullough and a follow shot at the buzzer from Conn to trim the lead to 44-40 at the break. Mercer held its lead strong for the first eight minutes of the second half, before a McCullough lay-up and a Conn bucket on a McCullough assist tied the score, 53-53, with 10:12 left. A follow shot by Tim Jennings pushed Gardner-Webb in front, 55-53, with 9:48 to play but James Odoms answered with a long three-pointer, a free throw and a lay-up off an inbounds play -- on three consecutive possessions -- to give the Bears a 59-55 edge with 8:35 left. Gardner-Webb made its move with just over five minutes to play as Bender drove and spun for a lay-up to cut the lead to 63-62 at the 5:13 mark. Conn worked in close for an unassisted hook shot with 4:28 to play to give Gardner-Webb the lead for good and took another assist from McCullough for a lay-up with 3:47 to play to push the lead to 66-63. Will Emerson cut the lead to one, 66-65, with a lay-up at the 3:16 mark, but Mercer would get no closer. Conn connected on another assist from McCullough with 2:10 left for a 70-66 Gardner-Webb lead -- and Brian Bender sealed the win with an 18-foot jump shot with 1:22 remaining to give the 'Dogs a 72-67 advantage. McCullough beat the Bears' defense for a lay-up with 1:01 left for a 74-67 edge and Mercer was forced to foul down the stretch. Odoms led Mercer with 17 points, hitting an efficient 6-of-12 shots. Emerson also made 6-of-12 shots to finish with 15 points and Alacqua came off the bench for 13 on red-hot 5-of-6 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point range). After sizzling the nets to the tune of 51.6 percent in the first half, Mercer managed only 35.7 percent in the final 20 minutes (44.1 percent for the game). Gardner-Webb shot an efficient 49.2 percent for the game, despite going 0-for-10 from three-point range in the second half. With Conn leading the way, Gardner-Webb made an effective 14-of-23 shots from inside the arc in the second half (60.8 percent). --30--
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