Mercer Bears Upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa

Alabama’s football team is No.1 in the country and plays a tough brand of football, but the Mercer men’s basketball came into Coleman Coliseum and used a huge 56-38 rebounding advantage to shock the Crimson Tide, 72-69 in non-conference men’s basketball action Sunday night.

Junior guard James Florence found Calvin Henry underneath the basket for a contested reverse layup that proved to be the winning basket with 13.8 seconds on the clock and Florence hit two free throws to give the Bears a three-point advantage. Alabama’s Ronald Steele missed a potential game-tying trey and Florence collected the rebound at the buzzer.

Florence scored a team-high 23 points, while Daniel Emerson added 18 points. Brian Mills netted 10 points and collected eight boards with Henry just missed a double-double, scoring nine points and recording a game-high 13 rebounds.

Last year Mercer (2-0) upset Southern Cal in November and the Bears are 2-0 to start a season for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign and snapped Alabama’s four-game home win streak.

Unlike last season when Alabama held off a second-half rally to edge the Bears, 90-83, at the University Center, ‘Bama never gained more than a six-point lead.

Both teams struggled in the first couple of possessions, but junior forward Daniel Emerson, who scored the Orange and Black’s first five points, gave the Bears an early 5-3 advantage on his traditional three-point play inside the first two minutes of the contest. Unfortunately the Mercer big man picked up his second foul at the 17:03 mark, with sophomore Brian Mills taking his spot on the court.

Alabama guard Ronald Steele gave the Crimson Tide a brief two-point lead, but basket interference was whistled on Calvin Henry’s shot on MU’s next trip downcourt and the score was knotted for the second time of the night.

After trading turnovers, the Bears went on a 6-0 run ignited by Florence’s acrobatic fastbreak layup. Mills’ putback gave Mercer a four-point advantage and 20 seconds later guard Mark Hall found Michael Ellis open for the Bears’ sixth straight point.

Moments later, the Tide matched Mercer’s run with six consecutive points of their own, only to have the Bears bolt back out by five, as Florence dropped in a basket and Emerson drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with just under eight minutes on the clock.

With the Bears offsetting ‘Bama’s size with effort and quickness, the Orange and Black held an impressive 24-11 advantage on the boards with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

The Crimson Tide then went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to gain a 31-26 lead, but Mills found the range from downtown, as the Douglasville, Ga., native nailed a trey from deep in the right corner then found the distance from the opposite side of the court on the next possession, pulling the Bears to within two points with less than two minutes on the clock.

The two teams traded baskets, then Florence tied the score for the fourth time of the opening frame while drawing the foul. He misfired on the ensuing free throw attempt but the Bears had an opportunity to go into intermission with the lead after collecting the rebound, but Florence was whistled for a five-second count with just under 11 seconds on the clock. Alabama’s Steele then attempted an off-balance trey at the buzzer that was off the mark and the two teams went into the break tied at 33-33.

A cold front pushed through Tuscaloosa on Saturday while the Bears were practicing at Coleman Coliseum and it apparently carried over to the hardwood, as neither team was able to shoot better than 39 percent in the opening frame.

Junior E.J. Kusnyer opened the second-half scoring with a trey from the left corner – his first of the night – and Emerson muscled up an inside bucket and Mercer again held a five point lead.

Alabama chipped away and tied the contest at 40-apiece on a wild tip-in credited to Demetrius Jemison after the bated ball bounced high off the backboard with 15:40 on the clock.

Alabama’s Mikhail Torrance broke free for a lay-up and hit the ensuing free throw after drawing the foul, giving “Bama a short-lived four-point lead. But Mercer roared back with a 12-0 run from the 12-minute mark to the 7:31 point, forcing Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried to call a timeout. Bama’s Steele hit a 3-pointer out of the timeout to snap the MU run and the Bears held a 56-51 advantage at the media timeout.

With the student section staring him in the face, Florence nailed two from the charity stripe at the 7:08 mark. Following a missed free throw by the Crimson Tide, Henry swooped in to collect a Florence miss and slammed it home for a nine-point Mercer lead.

A 7-0 run by Alabama trimmed the Bears’ to a deuce, but Florence stopped the run with a traditional three-point play, but JaMychal Green answered with his own three-point play.

Mercer was outscored 16-6, surrendering the lead before Emerson hit a layup, then Alabama’ Alonzo Gee hit just his second basket of the night, a jumper from the left side to regain the lead and could have been a back-breaker, at 69-68, with just 27.5 ticks on the clock. Mercer coach Bob Hoffman called a timeout to set up the final frantic seconds and Florence and Henry combined to make it successful. Florence drove the lane, went airborne and found Henry underneath.

Florence scored a team-high 23 points, while Daniel Emerson added 18 points. Brian Mills netted 10 points and collected eight boards with Henry just missed a double-double, scoring nine points and recording a game-high 13 rebounds.

Steele led all scorers with 25 points, while Green added 17 points for the Crimson Tide.

The Bears have another quick turnaround, visiting Auburn for the second consecutive season on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Tip-off is slated for 8.p.m. (eastern) at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

• With his five blocked shots on the night, Henry now ranks third all-time at Mercer.

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Falcon Victory over Lions

Record-Breaking Turner Leads Falcons to Victory

Michael Turner rushed for a franchise-record 220 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Falcons defeated the Detroit Lions 34-21 in the 2008 opener.

Atlanta (1-0) exploded out of the gate, scoring on the first three offensive possessions and racking up 216 yards of total offense in the opening period. Quarterback Matt Ryan's first pass attempt of the season -- and his career -- was a 62-yard scoring strike to Michael Jenkins. That was followed by 66- and 5-yard touchdown runs by Turner.

Turner rushed for 117 yards and both touchdowns the first quarter but that was just a sign of big things to come for a Falcons football team eager to show off a new form of intensity for first-year Head Coach Mike Smith.

“We’ve said from the very beginning that we are going to be a team that runs the football," Smith said. "When you run the football, you can dictate to a defense. Prior to the draft, we spoke about being a physical football team and on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We pretty much set a statement in training camp that that’s what we wanted to do. We rushed for 100 yards in all four of our preseason games. We really did a nice job today. Michael Turner and Jerious (Norwood) both ran extremely well.”

A 21-0 lead -- and a season-opening victory also seemed to breathe new life into a fan base that witnessed just four 'W's' in a tumultuous 2007. Each score in the Falcons first-quarter barrage met with boisterous approval from the 62,310 inside the refurbished Georgia Dome.

"I think the fans were really into it, especially early on," Smith said. "That sets the tempo and advantage for our football team. I thought they did a nice job getting loud on third downs for our defense and we made some critical stops on third down."

Ryan, who became the first rookie to start a season for the Falcons since Steve Bartkowski in 1975, finished with a solid 161 passing yards and 137.0 quarterback rating. Turner led a ground game that picked up a franchise-record 318 rushing yards (7.6 yards per carry). The amount of big plays resulted in plenty of big celebrations, as Falcons players danced around the field almost nonstop during the game.

In all, 10 young players got their first opening day start with the Falcons on Sunday.

Some excitement was expected.

"You have to play this game with emotion," Ryan said. "It's a fun game and everyone was out there today playing with a lot of emotion and having a lot of fun."

That easygoing mentality helped when the Lions started to make a run.

The defense surrendered 14-second quarter points, but reasserted itself on the Lions opening drive of the third quarter with a Lawyer Milloy interception. The 13-year veteran returned the ball 38 yards back to the lions 49. Four plays later, Jason Elam kicked a 50-yard field goal to open a 24-14 lead.

The Falcons hit the accelerator again on the next possesion, using a 46-yard completion from Ryan to Roddy White to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Norwood.

Turner and Norwood were nothing short of dominant in the second half (158 rushing yards) as they darted through holes in the middle of the defense and delivered hits to tiring Lions defenders. The Falcons talked throughout the off-season and training camp about estabilishing an identy based on toughness and a punishing run game.

Mission accomplished.

With Norwood's 93 rushing yards, the Falcons came just 7 yards away from having a 200- and 100-yard rusher for the first time in team history. Turner rushed for multiple touchdowns for the first time in his career, which started behind All-Pro LaDanian Tomlinson in San Diego.

“I thought they did a heck of a job out there," Ryan said when asked about the running game and offensive line. "They were able to set the pace for the entire offense. And for the passing game, our tackles, Tyson Clabo and Sam Baker held the fort down. They were able to contain the defensive ends for Detroit. They all helped set the single-game rushing record, so kudos to all of them.”

As a Charger, Turner often watched as Tomlinson re-wrote the record books.

"I always wondered what it would feel like to break a record," he said. "I didn't even know I was close to breaking a record today, it just happened"

Some would say he shattered the previous numbers (202 yards by Gerald Riggs), which will outshine the solid performance of the team's defense as Week 2 begins. The group bent, but failed to break Sunday as defensive end John Abraham sacked Lions quarterback Jon Kitna three times.

The Falcons now turn attention to a division opponent. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a 24-20 loss at New Orleans Sunday.

"We all know we have a lot of work to do," Ryan said. "This is a long season. We're going to play against tough defenses week-in and week-out. There are certainly areas where we can improve. We're going to get back out there this week, work hard and get ready to go against Tampa."

For now, the team is enjoying a win for the record books.

“It was a great win for our team," Milloy said. "I know that there are not a lot of people that have high expectations for our team, but we have expectations for ourselves and I thought that we showed that effort.”

By J. Michael Moore
AtlantaFalcons.com
Managing Editor

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