Cam’Ron Fletcher scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds to help Florida State win its first game of the season, as it earned an 81-72 victory over Mercer on Monday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Seminoles (1-4) snapped a four-game losing streak, which marked their worst start to a season since 1959-60 and their worst start during Leonard Hamilton’s lengthy coaching tenure.
Mercer (2-3) was led by Jalyn McCreary, who finished with 20 points and six rebounds while shooting 10-of-15 from the field.
Florida State, which had dropped games to mid-major programs such as Stetson, UCF and Troy during its losing skid, opened up a 42-26 lead before Mercer scored the final eight points of the first half to cut the Seminoles’ lead to single digits.
The Bears took a 60-58 lead with 9:06 left in the second before the Seminoles answered with a 6-0 run.
Tied at 66 with 4:28 to go, the Seminoles scored nine consecutive points highlighted by a clutch long-range jumper by Darin Green Jr. with 1:40 remaining that helped put the game out of reach.
Caleb Mills went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line down the stretch and Matthew Cleveland had a key steal leading to a layup in transition to close out the game.
The Seminoles defense did a solid job throughout the game, limiting Luis Hurtado, one of Mercer’s top scorers. Hurtado finished with nine assists but fouled out after scoring only two points.
Florida State shot 18-of-25 from the foul line and limited its turnovers to seven after committing double-digit giveaways in its previous two games. Cleveland finished with 18 points while Mills totaled 12.
Kamar Robertson scored 15 points for Mercer while Shawn Walker Jr. and Michael Zanoni each finished with 11.
Mercer shot 10-fof-25 from 3-point range, but the Seminoles shot more efficiently from long distance as they made 7 of 15 attempts from beyond the arc.
–Field Level Media
