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7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs. Pacific
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Thursday, February 8
Boca Raton, Fla.
8:00 PM ET
Florida Atlantic
69
vs
70
Mercer
Owls Lose Heartbreaker, 70-69, to Mercer
2/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2001
BOCA RATON, FL -
Scott Emerson's jumper as time expired lifted Mercer University over Florida Atlantic University, 70-69, Thursday night in Trans America Athletic Conference play in Boca Raton, FL. The winning shot came after FAU's Nick Neumann gave the Owls a 69-68 lead with four seconds remaining on a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key. Mercer was led by Rodney Kirtz, who scored a game-high 28 points, 23 in the second half, while Emerson finished with 23. FAU (6-18, 5-8 TAAC) was led by Jeff Cowans and Earnest Crumbley who each scored 14.
Mercer (10-13, 7-7 TAAC) started the game quickly, taking a 15-4 lead with 13:37 remaining in the first half. A pair of free throws by Crumbley gave FAU their first lead, 27-25, with 3:41 left before the half. The Owls built that advantage to 34-27 at the break.
FAU scored the first six points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 40-27, with 18:54 left. A three-pointer by Kirtz, one of six on the night, pulled Mercer to within four points with 10:46 left. The Owls responded with a 5-0 run capped off by a Crumbley trey to take a 55-46 lead with 9:33 remaining.
While FAU was trying to maintain their lead, Mercer's Kirtz and Emerson continued to score. The duo accounted for 36 of Mercer's final 40 points. A jumper by Emerson with 3:19 left pulled Mercer to within two points and a three by Kirtz with 2:08 left gave Mercer its first lead of the second half at 66-65.
A lay-up by Neumann 25 seconds later gave the Owls the lead at 67-66 with 1:43 remaining. Two free throws by Wesley Duke gave the Bears the lead back at 68-67 with 15 seconds remaining.
That set up what looked to be the game winner by Neumann to give the Owls a 69-68 lead before Emerson's heroics.
"I was pleased with the way our team was able to battle back from the early deficit and eventually take the lead into the second half," said FAU head coach Sidney Green. "Unfortunately, we'll have to try to turn this loss into a positive heading into Saturday."
For the game, FAU outshot Mercer 45 percent to 40 percent while outrebounding the Bears 38-36. Neumann finished with 12 while Raheim Brown had 10 for the Owls. Emerson led the game with eight rebounds.
The game marked the third straight time in the series the outcome was decided by one point. Most recently, the Owls defeated the Bears 78-77 on January 3 in Macon, GA.
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