Men's Basketball Over "Powers" Mercer
11/26/2007 5:21:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. --- Georgia Southern freshman Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) scored a career-high 26 points to pace the men's basketball team to an 80-69 victory over Mercer Monday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
GSU records its fifth-straight win to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Powers shot 10-of-16 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point land. He also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and had two steals and two assists.
“He certainly doesn't play like a true freshman,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “He's got good poise and he makes shots. Obviously he's got a chance to be a very special player. He's got things that he's got to get better at. But he's a hard worker and he'll certainly get better.”
Senior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) tallied 16 points and eight assists and classmate Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Mercer's Brian Pfohl shot 10-of-12 from the field for 21 points and nine boards. Shaddean Aaron recorded 14 points.
The teams traded runs early in the contest. GSU started the game with seven straight points, only to see Mercer answer with a 12-2 run.
The Bears managed to pull ahead 28-22 with 6:34 left in the contest on a lay-up by Pfohl. But Powers and Foreman teamed up for nine straight points on a trifecta by Powers and back-to-back 3's from Foreman. Powers added another jumper and a free throw by sophomore Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead.
The Eagles led by two (39-37) at the half and an 11-3 run early in the second half gave GSU a double-digit lead for the first time. Georgia Southern led by no fewer than seven the rest of the way.
“We played the second half entirely different than the first half,” said Price. “And we should have played like that in the first half. We were a lot more aggressive and we went to the line more, and we got more offensive rebounds and we talked about it at half time. I thought our guys did a nice job in the second half.”
The Eagles' start is the best since the 1992-93 team also started 5-1. Mercer, headed in the opposite direction, loses its fifth-straight after a season-opening win at Southern California.
“I guess I'm pleasantly surprised,” said Price. “To be 5-1 with the first five on the road, is pretty impressive. I think we're showing some good things early in the season that we haven't shown in the past. We're rebounding the ball well and we're defending pretty good.
“Mercer's a good basketball team. Mercer had a big win at Southern California, probably one of their most talented teams in a while. And we answered them well in the second half.”
The Eagles return to action Saturday when they host Appalachian State at 3 p.m. The game will be televised by SportSouth.
GSU records its fifth-straight win to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Powers shot 10-of-16 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point land. He also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and had two steals and two assists.
“He certainly doesn't play like a true freshman,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “He's got good poise and he makes shots. Obviously he's got a chance to be a very special player. He's got things that he's got to get better at. But he's a hard worker and he'll certainly get better.”
Senior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) tallied 16 points and eight assists and classmate Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Mercer's Brian Pfohl shot 10-of-12 from the field for 21 points and nine boards. Shaddean Aaron recorded 14 points.
The teams traded runs early in the contest. GSU started the game with seven straight points, only to see Mercer answer with a 12-2 run.
The Bears managed to pull ahead 28-22 with 6:34 left in the contest on a lay-up by Pfohl. But Powers and Foreman teamed up for nine straight points on a trifecta by Powers and back-to-back 3's from Foreman. Powers added another jumper and a free throw by sophomore Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) turned a six-point deficit into a six-point lead.
The Eagles led by two (39-37) at the half and an 11-3 run early in the second half gave GSU a double-digit lead for the first time. Georgia Southern led by no fewer than seven the rest of the way.
“We played the second half entirely different than the first half,” said Price. “And we should have played like that in the first half. We were a lot more aggressive and we went to the line more, and we got more offensive rebounds and we talked about it at half time. I thought our guys did a nice job in the second half.”
The Eagles' start is the best since the 1992-93 team also started 5-1. Mercer, headed in the opposite direction, loses its fifth-straight after a season-opening win at Southern California.
“I guess I'm pleasantly surprised,” said Price. “To be 5-1 with the first five on the road, is pretty impressive. I think we're showing some good things early in the season that we haven't shown in the past. We're rebounding the ball well and we're defending pretty good.
“Mercer's a good basketball team. Mercer had a big win at Southern California, probably one of their most talented teams in a while. And we answered them well in the second half.”
The Eagles return to action Saturday when they host Appalachian State at 3 p.m. The game will be televised by SportSouth.
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