Bobcats take pair of wins at D-I Mercer

The Lady Bobcats opened, as head coach John Carrick's team faced its first competition of the preseason.

Initial possessions were rough for both sides. Early rust and nerves played a role.

"When the game started, it was so ugly because everybody was nervous," Carrick said.

The Mercer Bears shot 50 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Bobcats by 18 in the first half. Heading into halftime, GCSU was down 38-46.

Carrick was not surprised by the early struggles and came into the locker room content with the deficit.

"I felt pretty good to be down by eight," Carrick said. "I wasn't pleased with the rebounding or some of the offensive sets we were doing."

The opening seven minutes in the final half got rough. The Lady Bobcats fell even further behind, as Mercer's separation grew to 21 points.

Around the 13:00 minute mark, the GCSU bench began a fiery comeback. Sophomore guard Mandi Dudish got hot from beyond the arc, helping the Bobcats inch closer.

Additional bench scoring from junior guard Daniel Nopuente and junior forward Antoinette Reames narrowed the lead of a reeling Mercer squad. Carrick rode his bench players, who capped off a 22-3 run with a three-pointer by Dudish.

"We decided to keep the same people in there," Carrick said. "There happened to be a lot of timeouts so fatigue wasn't a factor."

The team fed off intensity shown by fresh face guard junior Shandrea Moore. Carrick was impressed with her effort and play down the stretch.

"She's one of those rare individuals that refuses to lose," Carrick said. "She was the spark that ignited the flame for the rest of the players to get on to her train and get after it."

With the game close, both sides traded baskets. Down 70-71 with less than 20 seconds remaining, Reames pulled down a vital rebound and nailed the follow up.

Mercer was unable to answer on their end, as Reames decisive score gave GCSU an incredible comeback victory 72-71.

Senior forward Tiauna Brantley led the Lady Bobcats in scoring with 13, while Moore almost reached a double-double with 12 points and eight assists.

After an exciting women's game, the GCSU men wanted to complete the Bear sweep. The game would be a battle between Mercer's size and the feisty Bobcat guard play.

The first stanza went back and forth. Even with the Bear's star guard James Florence 20 point outburst, the Bobcats found themselves down only three points at halftime. Mercer's advantage in field goal percentage was neutralized by GCSU's 14 points of turnovers.

"I was extremely proud of our guys' effort," head coach Terry Sellers said. "I thought they came out and set the tone from the very beginning."

Throughout the second half, GCSU continued their pressure defense and hustle for loose balls. The Bobcat press forced 19 total turnovers along with 12 steals for the game.

The stingy defense got to Florence, who only put up nine points in the closing half.

Despite shooting woes, the Bobcats took an 11 point lead into the last four minutes.

Sellers said the hot and cold shooting spells happen, but he told them to keep firing away.

The game got tense, as the GCSU slipped to a 70-69 advantage with under 40 seconds remaining. Junior guard Ty Rowland nailed a vital three to slow the opposing momentum.

Senior guard Shaun Keaton iced the game with a free throw putting the Bobcats up by the final 75-72 margin. Keaton was not bothered by the poor field-goal percentages.

"We're a team of shooters, and we'll have our off nights," Keaton said. "We stayed strong and kept playing hard defense."

Despite the size disadvantage, GCSU only lost the rebound battle by three. Also, 29 points of turnovers made the difference.

"We knew we would have to come in and rebound with them. They're a big team, and we just had to play scrappy," Keaton said.

Junior guard Graham Martin had a productive 20 point night, with .500 shooting from the floor. Keaton led the Bobcats with 22 points and senior forward Ken Kemp added ten rebounds.

The Lady Bobcats open their regular season Nov. 15 against The University of Mobile at Columbus State University's Tip-Off Classic. The men start their campaign with a home game against Fort Valley State University Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 14 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry