FORT MYERS, Fla. – Langston Hall and Anthony White Jr. scored 15 points each and Mercer earned its first NCAA tournament berth since 1985, beating top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast 68-60 in the Atlantic Sun Conference championship game on Sunday.
Jakob Gallon added 12 for the second-seeded Bears (26-8), who lost the A-Sun title game at home to the Eagles a year ago, then had to watch FGCU make a run to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament and become known nationally as "Dunk City."
It will be Mercer's time in the tourney this year, after handing FGCU its third home loss in 33 games over the past two seasons.
Bernard Thompson and Brett Comer scored 14 points each for FGCU (22-12), which got 13 from Chase Fieler and cut a huge second-half deficit down to one but couldn't get the lead back. The Eagles led for 8 seconds in the first half, and never again.
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