HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Senior David Holston (Pontiac, MI/Avondale HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) tallied a game-high 31 points and five steals with eight rebounds as Chicago State closed the Chicago Invitational Challenge Saturday afternoon with an 88-77 loss to Mercer at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The Bears hiked their season record to 5-2 and the Cougars' record dropped to 3-3 on the year.
A layup by Daniel Emerson and a three-pointer from E.J. Kusnyer gave Mercer an early 5-0 lead in the game's opening minute before Chicago State responded with a 7-0 run in just a minute and a half to gain a 7-5 advantage after senior Tawrence Walton (Chicago, IL/Kennedy-King College) (Chicago, Ill.) hit a layup at the 16:10 mark. Emerson connected on a jumper at 15:31 that broke a 9-9 tie en route to scoring 27 of the next 40 points over 10 minutes for a 36-22 Bears leading margin with 5:29 left in the half. The Cougars closed Mercer's lead to 39-32 after a 10-3 scoring drive in three minutes that culminated with a Holston layup at the 2:02 mark. The Bears finished the half by scoring five of the final seven points to enter intermission ahead by a 44-34 score.
CSU began the second half with a conventional three-point play by sophomore Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Palos Heights, Ill.) and a pair of free throws from Walton that brought its deficit to 44-39 with 18:40 left in the game. Mercer used a 10-3 scoring drive over a two-minute span to hike its advantage at 54-42 after Mark Hall canned a jumper at 16:20. Montgomery's jumper at the 15:59 mark sparked another 10-3 run that lasted two minutes which brought the Cougars to within 57-52 after a free throw from senior John Cantrell (Pontiac, MI/Northern HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) at 14:02. Mercer later tallied 13 of the next 21 points over four minutes to take a 70-58 advantage with 9:42 remaining in the contest, but CSU scored seven straight points in three minutes to close within 70-65 after a Holston three at 6:17. The final six minutes saw the Bears tally 18 of the final 30 points for the game's final margin.
Cantrell and Walton each contributed 14 points for CSU. Walton also adding eight rebounds and Cantrell produced four assists, while Montgomery posted eight points with five offensive boards and four blocks. Holston was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 31 points per game during the tournament and eclipsed the 30-point mark on three occasions.
Kusnyer recorded 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting to lead Mercer. Emerson added a double-double of 17 points and a game-high 11 caroms, while Brian Mills also contributed 17 points and James Florence posted 16 points with five assists.
The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 6 with a road contest at Northern Illinois starting at 2 p.m.
