Without star guard, Davidson squeaks by Mercer in 77-71 win

It didn’t help Davidson’s men’s basketball team that it was missing its leading scorer for Monday’s game against Mercer.

But the Wildcats made up for it with some tough defense in taking a 77-71 victory over the Bears at Belk Arena.

Playing without guard Jack Gibbs, Davidson forced Mercer into 14 turnovers, while finding enough offense despite a season-low 37.1 percent shooting to improve to 3-0 on the season.

“We’ve learned how valuable our bench is,” Wildcats coach Bob McKillop said. “We were scratching our heads the past two Saturdays, wondering if our bench was going to be a factor or not for us this year. We needed them so desperately, and they were sensational tonight.”

Peyton Aldridge scored 23 points, Jordan Barham added 19 points and 11 rebounds (including seven offensive boards), Oskar Michelsen 17 and Brian Sullivan 12 points and nine assists for the Wildcats.

Gibbs, Davidson’s early-season scoring leader at 26.5 points per game, rolled his ankle in the first half of Saturday’s 82-81 victory over College of Charleston.

With Gibbs out, McKillop went with a bigger starting lineup, putting Michelsen, Aldridge and Jake Belford at forwards and Sullivan and Barham at the guard spots.

While Sullivan was struggling (2 of 16 shooting, including 1 of 10 3-pointers), Michelsen hit five 3-pointers Monday as the Wildcats pulled ahead 36-31 at the half and led by as many as 16 midway through the second period.

However, Mercer (3-1) managed to pull within 69-67 with 61 seconds remaining on Jordan Strawberry’s 3-pointer. But Nathan Ekwu followed with a hook shot 21 seconds later to push Davidson’s lead back to four points. The Wildcats then went 6 of 6 from the free throw line to close out the game.

Three who mattered

Aldridge: Another big game from the 6-foot-7 sophomore – he was 7 of 10 from the field (including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers) and 6 of 6 from the line. Aldridge also pulled down seven rebounds.

Barham: His best scoring game of the young season for the Wildcats – Barham shot 7 of 19 from the field (thanks in part to all the offensive rebounds).

Michelsen: Averaging 5.0 points per game this season, he came close to his career high in scoring (20 points). He also played a career-best 39 minutes.

Observations

▪ The Wildcats also shot 29 percent on 3-pointers (9 of 31), and were outrebounded by the Bears 50-37. But the turnovers gave Davidson a 26-9 advantage in points. A 22 of 28 night from the free throw line also helped.

▪ McKillop is now one win shy of 500 career victories. His record at Davidson over is 499-300 over 27 seasons.

▪ Sullivan has been Davidson’s “Iron Man” in the early season – he’s played all 40 minutes in back-to-back games, and all but 2 minutes in the Wildcats’ opener against Central Florida.

Worth mentioning

▪ Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin and 1988 American League Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola were seated courtside at Monday’s game.

▪ The Wildcats wrap up their four-game homestand on Saturday, hosting Denison at Belk Arena. Game time is 2 p.m.

They said it

▪ “Not having Jack (Gibbs) or Jordan Watkins playing tonight, we tried to mix up our defense and save our legs a little bit. It gave us a good spark when we first went to zone, and we were able to jump on them a little bit.” – Sullivan.

▪ “Our shots weren’t falling early, but you’ve got to keep shooting. You can’t be hesitant to take those, and some of those looks started going in in late in the first half when we got some momentum.” – Barham.

▪ “It really comes down to focus – down near the end of the game, we know we really need to focus when it’s a tight game. This is just preparing us for later on in the year. When we get in these close games, we know how to handle it later down the road.” – Aldridge.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Without star guard, Davidson squeaks by Mercer in 77-71 win."