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JANUARY 27, 1972
THE MERCER CLUSTER
PACE 7
Bears 105; Texas Wesleyan 75
Overcoming an early scare
when they fell behind twice by
nine points, the Mercer Bears
nocked a stubborn Texas
Wesleyan squad, 106-75, in the
first round of the Mercer In
vitational Tournament.
lhe Bears scoring was well
balanced with six men in double
figures. Leading the pack, was
Bruce Gordy, who hit eight of-
eight from the field, finishing
with 17 points. Jack Scott had
15, Billie Smith had 13 and
Leonard Hardin had 12. John
Kinman also had a 100 percent
night from the field, hitting five-
of-five, ending with 11 points.
Smith again took rebound
honors with a game high 16,
which is also the high for the
season.
For the Rams, Ron Von-
derheide led the way with 14
points. Larry Agan had 11, and
Curtis Robinson and Larry
Harris had 10. Robinson also led
Texas Wesleyan in rebounds
with eight.
The way the game started off,
the Bears probably wished the
Rams had stayed in Fort Worth.
With the score tied at five,
Texas Wesleyan ran a string of
eight straight points to give
them a 13-5 lead by the 16:12
mark. Robinson and Agan did
the damage, with Agan hitting a
three point play.
Following a foul shot by
David Jones, Tom Risher hit a
lay up that made the score 15-6
with fifteen minutes to play in
the half.
After a short spurt by the
Bears, Texas Wesleyan again
moved their lead up to nine,
when Risher hit two foul shots
with 14:17 showing on the clock.
That was as close as the
Rams would come to victory
this night, however, as the
Bears came back to tie the
game at 20, following a 15 footer
by Gordy at 11:33.
After an 2S-footer by Von-
derheide made it 22-20, Mercer
put 13 straight points through
the nets to make it 33-22. Smith,
Monnie Brabham, Hardin and
Scott did the scoring in the drive
that gave the Bears an eleven
point lead witn 8:19 left in the
half.
Mercer moved out to a 17
point advantage, then- biggest
of the hall, when they hit a six
point spurt, capped by Hardin’s
15 footer with 5:29 to go in the
half.
But Texas Wesleyan, led by
Harris, managed to stay in the
game, and the teams went to
their dressing rooms with the
score 54-40.
But right at the outset of the
second half, the Bears began to
pour it on. Gordy, Smith and
Harein in hit jumpers to give
the Bears a 60-40 score with
18:40 to play.
In fact, it was at the start of
the second half, that Mercer
went on one of it's hottest
streaks ever, outscoring Texas
Wesleyan 20-3 at one point.
Mercer got the lead up as high
as 39 points, 86-17, with ten
minutes to go, after Smith hit
two foul shots.
The rest of the way was just
coasting for the Bears, as the
only excitement being
generated was to see whether or
not Mercer would reach 100.
The Bears finally got there
when Kinman hit a 20-footer for
100th and 101 at points, with 1:10
left in the game.
Mercer just barely did get
everyone to score, as the last
Bear bucket of the night was
scored by Marvin Bailey with
five seconds to play.
Final tournament game ends
* T ith Mercer 102, Southern 84
Faced by Leonard Hardin and
Billie Smith, the Mercer Bears
ambushed, robbed, and left for
c ad the Georgia Southern
Et.les 102-84, in the final game
of i % e Mercer Invitational
Touru^nent, last Saturday.
HarcLn, with a game, sea r -on
career Mgh 29 and
Smith, who had 24, led the Bears
in their second win over
Southern this year, and the
second year in a row in the
finals of the Tournament.
In addition to their 53 points,
Smith and Hardin accounted for
22 rebounds as the Bears
outrebounded Southern 61-47.
As an indication of the
teamwork of the Bears as a
whole, three were 20 Mercer
assists in the game, a game
high for the year. Jack Scott
accounted for five of the assists,
and Bruce Gordy had four.
For Georgia Southern,
Johnnv Mills led the way with 23
points, Richard Wallace had 17,
aru Charlie Gibbons had 16
Gibbons also led the team m
rebounding with 13.
In the eralier consolation
game, Stonybrook defeated
Texas Wesleyan 76-62.
The Bears started off in the
finals similarly to how they
started off in the opening round.
After socring the first bucket on
a drive by Hardin, Southern
reeled off nine points, with each
member of their starting five
chipping in to give them the
lead by the 17:43 mark.
But Mercer came right back,
ripping off ten straight points.
Gordy, Smith, Hardin and Scott
made the points that gave
Mercer a 12-9 edge with 14:47 to
play in the half
Georgia Southern tied it
twice, at 14, and at 16 on a
bucket by Phil Stokes with 10:34
in the half.
But Scott hit two straight
from the corner, and Southern
never caught Mercer again.
After two foul shots by
Wallace brought Southern
within one, the Bears scored
eight straight points. Gordy,
Hardin, and Mike Green put the
ball through the hoop for the
points, with 5:32 left in the half.
A 15-footer by Gordy with 5:05
left gave Mercer a ten point
lead, 32-22.
Southern came back to within
six several times, before Smith
hit two foul shots and a foul line
jumper to make it 42-32 with a
minute to go in the half.
Hardin hit a 2S footer right at
the buzzer to give Mercer a 48-
37 lead at intermission.
For the first five and a half
minutes of the second half,
Southern and Mercer swapped
points. A comer shot by Milles,
and then a foul shot by Mills cut
the margin to seven, 61-54.
The Bears moved their lead
back up to fourteen, 70-56, when
David Jones hit a lay-up that
capped a seven point spurt with
twelfe minutes to play.
After Gibbons hit a foul shot
that cut the lead to eleven,
Mercer hit another spurt,
getting five straight points to
move the score to 77-62, with ten
minutes to play.
Mercer kept their fifteen
point spread for a while, then
lengthened it with a rally of
seven points giving them a 22
point lead, 88-68, with 5:47 to
play. Smith, Green, Jones and
Hardin hit for the points.
The Bears got their biggest
lead of 24 twice, 94-70 on a
basket by Smith, and 96-72, on
another bucket by Smith, with
three minutes to play.
With Frank Pitt hitting four
long outside shots in a row,
Southern got back to the 18 point
margin, but that was as far as
'they could get.
Tom Robinson
From the
bench
After a brief delay with Florida State and Oglethorpe, it looks like
the Mercer express is back on the track. The Bears have recently
taken three games in a row, and, even more significantly, all the
games have been on the road. The last road game before the Bears
come home will be Friday night at Augusta.
It is possible that the secret of the most recent success is that, after
the Oglethorpe loss, the players got together and agreed that they
would win the last 13 games of the season, starting with four in a row.
"Usually, we were a little hesitant about making, such a
statement" piercer head coach Dwane Morrison said. “But our
youngsters are just now starting to believe in themselves. They have
made a mutual agreement to play together. What they are trying to
do is express their appreciation to the people for their support.”
At Southern Tech, there were more Mercer people than Tech
people, and at certain parts of the game, it made a difference.
Both for these next 13 games, it is really going to take a tremen
dous effort on the part of the players. Not that the players haven’t
already put out all they've had. As Morrison said "The type of
basketball we play, our philosophy is to come out to work.”
And that is just what the Bears have done. But looking at the
schedule coming up for the Bears, it is obvious that to take these
games, the players are really going to have to do some work.
The next three games for the Bears will be at Augusta, then back
home to the Coliseum to take on Fort Valley State and Southern
Tech, and not a one of those games are going to be easy.
But then comes the last seven. First, at home, is always tough
Appalachian State. Then the Bears have to travel up to Oglethorpe to
take on Breedlove Kinard and Co., which defeated the Bears by a 76-
75 count at the Coliseum. With the battle of who is no. 1 among the
small colleges in Georgia at stake, that game will be a rough one.
Staying on the road, the Bears travel to play the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga, which knocked off Oglethorpe by about
fifteen points earlier this season.
The Bears come home, for Homecoming, against Missouri
Western, who is supposed to be ultra-tough. Then Mercer plays it’s
last home game of the year, at least on the schedule, against Pem
broke State, who, like Appalachian State, has a reputation for p itting
out fine basketball teams.
Then comes the grand finale. The Bears go down to take on
Jacksonville, who will be playing their homecoming. I’m quite sure
that JU has not forgotten the rough little treatment that they
received up here last year at the hands of the Bears for just about 38
minutes before the Bears succumbed, 93-76.
The last game of the year will be played at LaGrange, place of
good ol* home-cooking. Coach A1 Mariotti has been a one man
scouting service for LaGrange on us, as I am quite sure a lot of the
people who have been to the games know. The adage-'Tf we play a
game in Georgia, Mariotti’s bound to be there” might be broken if he
watches us in Jacksonville.
xxxxxx
The Undefeated Mercer Teddy Bears, who have just come off a
highly successful road trip, will be entertaining Georgia Baptist at
the Porter Gym on Friday at 7:00.
The Girls, with a record of 9-0 and a conference mark of 3-0, are
flying high after knocking off highly touted West Georgia 45-44, and
then trouncing North Georgia 67-42 to end their five game road trip.
After the game on Friday, the Girls will be in for another big
conference match when they take on Berry. Though Berry is sup
posedly not as good as they were last year, when they defeated the
Teddy Bears handily twice, Coach Peggy Collins will tell you this is
going to be one rough game anyway.
"We're going to have to shoot outside a lot" Miss Collins said. ”We
are really not very strong in that one area. Against Georgia Baptist,
the girls ran up against a real tough zone, and had to shoot from the
outside. We beat them 44-16, but we could have beaten them by more ’
of our shooting had been one.”
Leading the Girls’ offense is Sybil Blalock, averaging 21 points a
game, and Myrel Huskey, who is averaging 17 points. Under the
boards are Linda Callahan, averaging about nine points and 12
rebounds a game, and Marilyn Allgood, who is averaging six points d
game.
Leading the attack will be Beth Secord, who is hitting at the five
point clip, despite a sprained ankle.
The Berry game will be played on Saturday, January 29, at the
Porter Gym
Bear Backer