Rafferty's double-double helps Furman beat Mercer 71-58

Jan 4, 2019, 02:09 am

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Matt Rafferty had his seventh double-double of the season and Furman never trailed in its 71-58 win over Mercer on Thursday night.

Rafferty, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, came in needing just three points to become the 44th Furman player to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Noah Gurley and Jordan Lyons had 11 points each and Alex Hunter scored 10 for the Paladins (13-2, 2-1 Southern Conference).

Mercer went without a field goal for more than eight minutes -- and was scoreless for four minutes, 50 seconds -- in the second half as the Paladins used a 16-3 run to take a 56-37 lead with 6:54 to play. The Bears scored 14 of the next 17 points to trim their deficit to eight and Ethan Stair's 3-pointer made it 65-58 with 2:25 remaining, but they got no closer.

Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic had 15 points apiece for Mercer (5-9, 0-2).