National Basketball Association
Texas A&M 65, Mercer 50
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials:
# Jeffrey Anderson, # Marc Ellard, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
7052
By SportsDirect Inc.
Texas A&M 65, Mercer 50: Jalen Jones scored 20 points and the Aggies overcame a sluggish start, scoring the final 17 points of the first half en route to a home victory.
Davonte Fitzgerald added 13 points off the bench as Texas A&M (8-3) won for the seventh time in nine games. Jones hit 7-of-13 shots from the field and added eight rebounds, and Kourtney Roberson and Danuel House added 11 points apiece.
Ike Nwamu scored 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting for Mercer (6-8), which went scoreless for the final 5:38 of the first half. Freshman Jordan Strawberry, who scored 21 points in the Bears’ 86-77 triple-overtime loss Saturday at Georgia, added 12 points off the bench.
The Aggies hit only three of their first 13 shots from the field and the Bears led 23-13 on Stephon Jelks’ jumper with 5:38 left in the first half before Mercer missed its final four shots of the period. Jones’ layup and two free throws kick-started the half-closing spurt, Fitzgerald’s three-point play with 1:41 remaining gave Texas A&M a 26-23 lead and House’s 3-pointer in the final seconds sent the Aggies into halftime ahead 30-23.
Back-to-back Jones baskets early in the second half staked Texas A&M to a 41-32 advantage, but the Bears drew within 51-46 on Nwamu’s jumper with just over seven minutes to play. The Aggies responded with a 14-0 run - eight by Fitzgerald - to squash Mercer’s comeback hopes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Texas A&M G Alex Caruso finished with eight assists to move into 10th place on the school’s all-time list (349). … The Aggies finished with eight turnovers, the fourth time in the past six games Texas A&M has recorded fewer than 10 miscues. … Jones is averaging 17.7 points in his past three games.
Top Game Performances
| Mercer |
|
Texas A&M |
|
Ike Nwamu 16 |
Scoring |
Jalen Jones 20 |
|
Jordan Strawberry 4 |
Assists |
Alex Caruso 8 |
|
T.J. Hallice 4 |
Rebounds |
Jalen Jones 8 |
|
James Bento 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Jalen Jones 6 |
|
James Bento 1 |
Steals |
Danuel House 2 |
|
T.J. Hallice 1 |
Blocks |
Jalen Jones 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mercer
|
50 |
41.3 |
7-25 |
5-10 |
13 |
23 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
| Texas A&M
|
65 |
46.0 |
5-15 |
14-21 |
16 |
32 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
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