Alabama
Mercer
Men's Basketball Drops Season Opener against Mercer 72-69
11/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama men's basketball team fell in its season opener to Mercer 72-69 despite a monumental effort by senior Ronald Steele down the stretch. Senior Alonzo Gee nailed a baseline jumper on an assist from Steele with 0:34 seconds remaining to give the Tide a 69-68 lead, but a basket by Calvin Henry with 0:13 seconds left put the Bears back in front 70-69, a lead they would not give up.
"For whatever reason, we didn't do a lot of things very well tonight, and that sits on my shoulders," head coach Mark Gottfried said. "(Mercer) played hard and did a great job. We didn't take advantage of opportunities to help ourselves. We've got to learn from it and get better."
With the Tide trailing 48-56, Steele put the team on his back scoring 16 of the team's final 21 points over the final 7:39 seconds of the game. Steele gave the Tide only its second lead of the second half at 67-65 when he hit three free throws with 1:42 remaining. He finished with a game-high 25 points.
"(The loss) hurts really bad right now," Steele said. "I thought we played hard, and I take the responsibility because I'm the senior and I didn't get going earlier. We are going to work harder, and you will see a better effort on Wednesday night."
Freshman JaMychal Green, a McDonald's All-American, posted a double-double in his first career game with the Tide putting up 17 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Mikhail Torrance contributed 10 points in 19 minutes of action off the bench.
For the game, Alabama shot 36 percent from the field and 25 percent (7-28) from three point range. Steele made five of the Tide's seven treys. Mercer did not fare much better, shooting 39 percent from the floor and 28 percent (5-18) from behind the arc. Both teams were relatively even at the foul line as well with Alabama making 14-21 and Mercer going 15-23.
The big statistical discrepancy came on the boards where the Bears out-rebounded the Tide 56-38. The Bears turned 24 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points. Alabama did come up with nine steals led by Steele with three swipes and converted 16 Mercer turnovers into 13 points.
"Obviously, the rebounding margin is a glaring issue," Gottfried said. "When you get out-rebounded 56-38 and give up 24 offensive rebounds with probably five, six or eight of those coming at critical times that really hurt us. We've got to do a better job there."
Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field in the first half and entered the locker room deadlocked at 33-33. The Bears led for the majority of the half, but Alabama reeled off an 11-2 run late in the frame capped off by consecutive three pointers by Steele and Torrance to take a 27-22 lead.
Gee battled foul trouble picking up his third foul with 6:06 left causing him to miss the rest of the half. Green led the Tide with eight points and nine boards before intermission.
Mercer junior guard James Florence led the Bears with 23 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Florence hit two free throws with 0:09 seconds left to give the Bears a three point lead, and he also dished out the assist to Henry on Mercer's eventual game-winning basket. Daniel Emerson added 18 for the Bears.
Alabama stays at home for its next game against Florida A&M on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at Coleman Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.
