J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist
North Florida has improved considerably in all sports since entering the Atlantic Sun conference only a few years ago. In fact, the Ospreys are on track to return to Macon for the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference tournament next week, but when Mercer caught the Jacksonville-based school in the University Center for the final regular season meeting, it was the Bears who prevailed. The 77-67 win was a crucial home win for Mercer, especially considering they were without the services of guard James Florence who sat out with a high ankle sprain.
Florence’s injury snapped his streak of 79 consecutive starts dating back to a 2007 game against Sewanee when he sat out as a sophomore. Florence’s teammates step up in a big fashion though as Daniel Emerson would dominate the game with Dwight Howard like statistics, finishing with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Mercer also received big time minutes from sixth man Brandon Moore who chipped in 18 points and 8 rebounds.
Filling in the shoes of Mercer’s all-time leading scorer, Jeff Smith and E.J. Kusnyer helped make up the scoring difference with a combined 21 points as senior guard Brendan Walker got the start at point guard. Reserve point guard Mark Hall also got to see considerable time on the floor (27 minutes) as he led the Mercer offense.
Tied 32-32 at halftime, Mercer shot an astounding 14-for-22 from the field during the second half in order to outpace UNF by ten points. Another memorable moment occurred in the second half when Kusnyer hit his 88th 3-point basket of the season, passing Mercer’s Reggie Titus (1988-89) for the single-season record in that category. Kusnyer continues to lead the nation in three-pointers made this season.
For UNF, the game wasn’t a lost cause as they got to experience the pressure that come with playing in the University Center, which they hope to use to their advantage come tournament time. Talented guard Eni Cuka would score a game-high 21 points for the Ospreys as they dropped their tenth conference game of the season.
After a day off, the Bears returned to the UC Arena to take on the Jacksonville Dolphins. Arguably one of the best rivalries in the Atlantic Sun, the Jacksonville-Mercer game has always been one of the most physical battles in conference play. Many of the seniors on both teams still remember the ‘Basket-Brawl’ that occurred in 2007 when several players got in a scuffle at the end of the game prompting both benches to clear.
While this version of the game didn’t feature any fights, it certainly had plenty of tough fouls, questionable officiating, and was just downright ugly for most of the game. In short, finesse wasn’t the name of the game as Mercer fell 76-64 to their southern rivals.
James Florence made a go in this final rivalry game of his career, playing 21 minutes, but wasn’t his productive self as he posted just 2 points and 3 assists before fouling out. In contrast, JU guard Ben Smith was undoubtedly the player of the game for the Dolphins as he hit 14 of 17 free throws to finish with a game-high 26 points.
Plagued by poor shooting on both sides in the first half, Jacksonville maintained their halftime lead (31-25) and let it grow a bit more during the second half. Even a late burst of energy from the Bears in an attempt to comeback was soon shot down by Dolphins’ hot shooting. The 5th largest UC crowd would watch the Bears fall to the Dolphins yet again at home by a final margin of 12 points.
Daniel Emerson led the Bears once again with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but it was guard Jeff Smith that really got the offense flowing in the second half as he finished with 8 assists and 11 points.
“We played hard and so did they,” Mercer’s Bob Hoffman said after the game. “We just weren’t as good as them today and we wanted to get inside and go to the free throw line. Unfortunately, they just got there more than we did,” referring to JU’s 44 free throw attempts (comparing to Mercer’s 25).
As the Mercer faithful honored their four seniors (Florence, Emerson, Kusnyer, and Walker) in their final regular season home game, the Bears now head on the road to face Belmont and Lipscomb in their final road trip of the season.
