Macon, Ga. – Mercer outscored Furman 38-19 in the second half and forced 25 turnovers on the night en route to a 73-46 victory over the Paladins before a crowd of 2,272 on Sunday at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.

The loss dropped the Paladins to 2-3 on the season while Mercer snapped a three-game skid to improve to 3-3.  The Bears forced Furman into 25 miscues, including 14 in the first half, and outscored the Paladins 28-5 on points off turnovers to score their third straight victory in the series. 

After finishing the first half on a 6-2 spurt to lead 35-27 at the break, Mercer opened the second half on a 32-6 run to build a 67-33 lead on Chris Smith's breakaway slam off of a Furman turnover with 7:54 remaining.  The Bears connected on 13 of their first 22 shots in the second half while limiting the Paladins to only six points in the opening 13 minutes of the period.

Monty Brown came off the bench to score 14 points and lead four Bears in double figures.  Jakob Gollon scored 11 points while Travis Smith and Daniel Coursey tallied 10 apiece.

Mercer converted on 43.9% of its field goal attempts, including 53.3% in the second half.  The Bears, who outscored Furman 30-10 in the paint, drained 7-of-20 shots beyond the arc and 16-of-21 attempts at the foul line while committing just eight turnovers.

Freshman Larry Wideman buried three treys to pace the Paladins with 13 points and seven rebounds.  Fellow freshman Stephen Croone added nine points and four assists.

Furman shot just 38.5% from the floor, made only 11-of-23 free throw attempts and struggled with foul trouble as senior Colin Reddick fouled out after just 21 minutes of work.  The Paladins managed a 36-25 margin on the glass, but Furman was outscored 14-10 on second chance points.

The loss marked Furman's largest margin of defeat since losing 82-53 at Clemson on December 13, 2009.  Furman's 46 points were the fewest for a Paladin squad since a 66-43 loss to College of Charleston on January 7, 2012.

The Paladins return home to open Southern Conference play on Wednesday when they host the Western Carolina Catamounts.  Tip-off on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena is set for 7 p.m.

Tickets for Wednesday's game are available thru Ticketmaster at www.FurmanPaladins.com.  Every ticket to a Furman men's basketball home game is an All-Inclusive Ticket, allowing fans free, unlimited trips to the concession stand for hamburgers, hotdogs, Pizza Hut Pizza, nachos and soft drinks.

All Furman men's basketball games during the 2012-13 season will be aired live on 103.3 WOLT-FM and 96.3 WGOG-FM.  Each game will also be streamed live thru Stretch Audio at www.FurmanPaladins.com.  Dan Scott will provide play-by-play with former Paladin guard Ron Smith handling color commentator duties.

Fans can follow live statistics of the game by logging onto www.FurmanPaladins.com.