National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Georgia 56, Mercer 53
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 23, 2010
Where: University Center, Macon, Georgia
Officials: # Pat Evans, # John Hampton, # Chuck Jones
Attendance: 3274

Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie scored 20 points apiece as Georgia managed to avoid an embarrassing loss by pulling out a 56-53 victory at Mercer on Thursday. Jeremy Price made the go-ahead free throw in the final minute and finished with 11 points for the Bulldogs (9-2), who struggled to a 16-of-26 night from the free throw line.

Georgia leapt out to a 15-6 lead in the first half before going cold and letting Mercer take control. The Bears ended the first half on a 23-9 run to take a 31-24 lead into the break.

Mercer (3-8) managed to keep the Bulldogs at bay in the second half until the final minutes, when Price’s layup with 1:34 on the clock tied it at 53-53. Price’s layup 38 seconds later gave Georgia its first lead of the second half. Leslie’s free throws with 2.3 seconds left sealed it.

Georgia gets two more chances to develop into a dominating squad before opening the SEC slate with Kentucky on January 8 and then hitting the road for two more conference games the next week.
Top Game Performances
 
Georgia   Mercer
Travis Leslie 20 Scoring Brian Mills 21
Gerald Robinson Jr. 4 Assists Jeff Smith 4
Trey Thompkins 10 Rebounds Brian Mills 12
Travis Leslie 8 Free Throws Made Brian Mills 4
Trey Thompkins 4 Steals Mark Hall 2
Chris Barnes 2 Blocks Brandon Moore 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Georgia 56 42.2 2-8 16-26 10 32 6 11
Mercer 53 36.5 4-21 11-13 12 29 3 7