News
Men's Basketball Outlasts Valparaiso in Triple OT Thriller
Date Posted: 11/29/2013
VALPARAISO, Ind. – Senior point guard Langston Hall broke Mercer's career record for assists and seniors Jakob Gollon and Bud Thomas each booked career-high scoring totals as Mercer mounted a furious comeback to beat Valparaiso 117-108 in triple overtime on Friday evening at the Athletics Recreation Center.
Mercer erased a 15-point deficit to claim its first road win of the year and improve to 5-3 overall. Valparaiso saw a four-game home winning streak snapped and fell to 4-4.
Gollon had his best game collegiate game, scoring 37 points on 11-of-17 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists and a steal. Thomas scored 12 of his career-high 23 points in overtime while also collecting four assists, three steals and two rebounds.
Entering the game needing just three assists to set the record, Hall broke the mark at the 9:44 of the first half on his way to nine assists in the win. The nine helpers brought his career total to 477, surpassing the previous record of 470 set by 1986 graduate Elston Harris.
The game featured 23 lead changes and 17 tie scores and marked the first triple overtime game for Mercer in nearly 10 years. Mercer's win was its third-straight in overtime games and improved the team to 7-1 in the last eight overtime contests.
Valparaiso shot a scorching 58.4% (17-of-29) from the field in the first half to stake a 15-point lead with 2:55 to go before halftime. The Crusaders took a 12-point lead into the break, but Thomas gave Mercer an influx of energy with a three pointer on the Bears' first possession out of the intermission.
Later, another Thomas three ignited a 16-2 charge that put Mercer in front with nine minutes to go. The lead was Mercer's first in nearly 23 minutes of action. From there, the teams would trade the advantage 11 more times before a Gollon layup gave Mercer a 77-74 edge with 40 seconds to play.
With 12 seconds left, Valapariso's LaVonte Dority nailed a three while being fouled and converted the improbable four-point play to put the hosts ahead 78-77. Mercer sophomore Ike Nwamu got the ball on the ensuing possession and drove to the tin, drawing a foul. One of two free throws for Nwamu sent the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, free throws for Nwamu and three-pointer by Gollon put the Bears in front by four, but Valparaiso battled back to go ahead by two with 1:21 on the clock. On Mercer's next trip down, Hall found Thomas for a layup to knot the game at 91-91. Three-straight missed field goals for the hosts sent the game to the second overtime.
Valpo led by three early in the second overtime and threatened to take control, but two key Thomas three pointers gave Mercer back the edge at 97-96 with 1:45 to go. Valpo went back ahead by two with a three-ball, but a Monty Brown putback bucket and two more Gollon free throws gave the Bears a 101-99 lead with 25 seconds to play.
The Crusaders went inside to big man Bobby Capobianco, who came through with a layup that evened the score at 101-101 apiece and sent the game to triple overtime.
With 1:08 to go, the teams had played evenly again and found themselves deadlocked for the 17th time at 108-108. Mercer finally broke through as Hall dished to Brown for two, and a Thomas steal led to a Gollon dunk for a four-point Mercer lead. Back-to-back defensive rebounds by Anthony White Jr. forced Valpo to intentionally foul, and he hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final 35 seconds to secure the win.
Nwamu finished with 14 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Coursey netted 13 points, four rebounds and a block. The game was head coach Bob Hoffman's 750th as a collegiate head coach and 180th game on the Mercer sidelines.