Furman rallies to beat Mercer 85-74 behind Croone's 31

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) Stephen Croone scored 31 points on 7-of-15 shooting and made 13 of 16 free throws as Furman rallied with a big second-half run to beat Mercer 85-74 on Saturday.

Trailing by three at halftime, Croone tied it at 42 with a 3-pointer, then hit back-to-back 3s and Furman led 56-49 with 13:26 left. Croone scored five points amid a 15-2 run and the Paladins pulled away 80-61 with 4:08 to play.

Mercer finished with a 13-5 run in which Jaylen Stowe scored seven points but couldn't catch up.

Kris Acox scored 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting, Devin Sibley added 12 points with four assists and the Paladins (17-11, 11-4 Southern Conference) made 9 of 27 3-pointers and 24 of 31 free throws.

Stephon Jelks scored 17 points, Jordan Strawberry added 15 and Cory Kilby had a career-high 13 for Mercer (18-9, 8-6), which has lost three straight.