Mercer stays hot with win over Jacksonville St.

MACON - Aleem Muhammad scored 25 points, and Mercer used a 12-0 second-half run en route to an 84-78 Atlantic Sun Conference victory over Jacksonville State Thursday night. <br> <br> Mercer (14-5, 8-2 ASUN) led 40-39 at the half, but the Gamecocks (13-8, 5-5) rallied and led 67-59 with 8:28 left in the game. The Bears turned the game around with 12 straight points to make it 71-67 with under five minutes remaining. <br> <br> JSU cut the lead to 75-74 at the 1:17 mark, but Muhammad&#39;s turn-around jumper pushed the lead back to three. With 18 seconds left, JSU&#39;s Jay Heard hit a 3-pointer to make it 79-78, but Muhammad hit two foul shots and the Bears got three more after a technical foul by Heard. <br> <br> Delmar Wilson scored a career-high 22 points for Mercer, and Clarence Baker added a season-high 18. Poonie Richardson led Jacksonville State with 21 points. Heard scored 16 and James Denson 15.