The South Carolina men's basketball team took down Mercer University 84-72 In a back-and-forth battle.
The Gamecocks returned home for the Thursday night contest after a loss against No. 16 Indiana University.
The matchup between the Gamecocks and the Bears was the seventh all-time meeting between these two schools, the first since since December 2001, when the Gamecocks won 88-52.
The first quarter started off with a back-and-forth battle including four lead changes within three minutes of play. Mercer started off the game 3 for 3 on its 3-point attempts, which helped the team stay in momentum to have the lead 11-9 with 15 minutes left in the first half.
The Gamecocks found momentum by the 11th minute but couldn’t climb back into the lead, finding itself down one in a score of 16-17 at the under-12 timeout.
Mercer's shooting briefly cooled-down as it missed its next three attempts. The Gamecocks never let the Bears capitalize on fouling mistakes, giving up only one personal foul by the midway point of the half, giving the Bears zero chances to shoot at the free throw line.
The Gamecocks found its footing when junior guard Zachary Davis hit a 2-point shot, giving the Gamecocks the lead back after just the sixth lead change in the game altogether, making the score 19-17.
The competitive game had two more lead changes by eight minutes to go in the half, but the Gamecocks held onto the lead 24-22. South Carolina and Mercer kept letting their offenses flow, but South Carolina held the lead by the fifth minute thanks to 3-pointers from senior guard Jamarii Thomas and Davis, with a score of 31-30.
The Gamecocks held onto the lead at the halftime break 36-32 after a total of 10 lead changes.
Mercer and South Carolina had almost identical stats by the break in many categories, Mercer grabbing 18 rebounds and 13 defensive rebounds to close the half, while South Carolina had 17 rebounds and 11 defensive rebounds. The Gamecocks and Bears also had similar turnovers in the half, with six and seven respectively.
The Gamecocks were also able to find the bottom of the net more often with 45% FG percentage while the Bears had a 42% FG percentage.
Mercer opened the second half with a quick 2 points off of a dunk by senior forward Alex Holt in an attempt to take the momentum back in the teams favor.
The Gamecocks started getting into a groove of its own in the next few minutes of play, making four 3-pointers in a row, which made the score 48-41.
The Bears kept the score close, taking the lead back with just under 11 minutes to go in the game until a Mercer foul gave the Gamecocks the lead back at the free throw line.
The Gamecocks held onto the lead to close out the game 84-72 earning the team’s third win of the season.
Collin Murray-Boyles rebounds
Sophomore forward Colin Murray-Boyles shot 85% from the field on the night, only missing one of his six shot attempts and one free throw attempt. Murray-Boyles also grabbed a team-high of nine rebounds for the game to go along with his two assists.
"He's a willing passer ... and a very capable passer,” head coach Lamont Paris said. "I think that's an important part of him generating offense for us."
Murray-Boyles ended the game with 16 points in a team-high of 31 minutes played.
Low fouls for Gamecocks
The Gamecocks committed only two fouls in the opening half in contrast to Mercer's 11. Mercer's fouls led to 5 Gamecocks points at the free throw line.
"They were being really physical even defending," Paris said. "Some of the fouls were hard fouls."
Mercer's fouls would continue into the second half, picking up 13 in the second half to South Carolina's 10. South Carolina's fouls would lead to 8 Mercer points at the line while Mercer's led to 13 points for the Gamecocks.
Strong second-half three-point game
The Gamecocks started the second half 4-4 from the 3-point line, which helped bring momentum its way to start off the second half.
"I think the ability to be poised and perform — they performed well," Paris said. "(They did this) in two ways. One, that they made the shots and two, that they made the plays."
The Gamecocks in the second half shot 7-13 (53.8%), which was higher than the team’s first half performance of 35.7%. The team also shot 12-27 for 3-pointers for the entire game.
What’s next?
Catch the Gamecocks in the Fort Myers Tip-Off where the team will play its next two games on FS1 at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. The first game of the tip-off will be played against Xavier University at 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 25 and the second will be played on Nov. 27 with the team's opponent being either Michigan or Virginia Tech. The time for the second match has not been announced yet.