DAVIDSON (Interstat) — Nick Janowski scored 25 points and Davidson used a decisive second-half run to defeat Mercer 88-76 on Saturday at Belk Arena. Janowski added four rebounds and three assists for the Wildcats, who improved to 2-0. Quinton Perkins led Mercer with 29 points, two rebounds and seven assists. The Bears dropped to 1-2. Attendance was 2,466. Davidson shot 36 of 70 from the floor and 8 of 22 from 3-point range, while Mercer shot 27 of 62 overall and 10 of 25 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats held a 44-26 advantage in points in the paint and scored 15 points off turnovers to Mercer’s zero.

Mercer opened the scoring when Perkins made a 3-pointer at 19:32 of the first half. Davidson answered with a Sam Brown layup, but Derek Goodman hit a pullup jumper and a 3-point jump shot to help the Bears build an early 10-6 lead. Davidson responded with a Josh Scovens layup and a Nick Janowski stepback jumper that tied the game at 10. KJ LaMonte made a floating jumper for Mercer, and Jaqualon Roberts answered with a dunk for Davidson. Janowski then made a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 15-12 lead. Goodman made another floating jumper, and Perkins made two free throws to put Mercer ahead 16-15. Janowski made two free throws to put Davidson back in front 17-16. Shane Cherry made a 3-pointer for Mercer, and Karon Boyd added a layup to push the Bears ahead 21-17. Ian Platteeuw made a hook shot for Davidson, but Perkins answered with a jump shot. Brady Shoulders made a 3-pointer to give Mercer a 26-19 lead. Platteeuw made a floating jumper and a 3-pointer, and Janowski made a jump shot to cut the Davidson deficit to 28-26. Shoulders made one free throw, Scovens made a hook shot, and Janowski made a driving layup to give Davidson a 30-29 lead. Jackson Keith made a layup to extend the Wildcats’ advantage to 32-29. Makoi Mabor Makoi made a tip-in layup for Mercer, Janowski made a layup for Davidson, and Boyd made a tip-in layup for the Bears. Davidson took a 34-33 lead into halftime. Mercer’s largest lead was seven points at 26-19.

Davidson extended its lead after halftime as Janowski made a layup at 19:49. Perkins made two free throws for Mercer, but Janowski answered with a stepback jumper. Perkins made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 38. Brown made a 3-pointer for Davidson, and Goodman made a floating jumper for Mercer. Keith made a floating jumper and a free throw, and Brown made another 3-pointer to give Davidson a 47-40 lead. Perkins made two free throws, and Platteeuw made a tip-in layup. Scovens made a layup, and Makoi made a layup for Mercer. Nick Coval made a 3-pointer for Davidson, and Cherry made a layup for Mercer. Janowski made a turnaround jumper, Keith made a tip-in layup, and Scovens made a hook shot to push Davidson’s lead to 60-46. Perkins made a floating jumper, and LaMonte made a layup for Mercer. John Carter made a 3-pointer for Davidson. Boyd made two free throws for Mercer, Scovens made a 3-pointer for Davidson, and Boyd made two more free throws. Brown made a floating jumper, and Perkins made a 3-pointer for Mercer. Boyd made a floating jumper, and Brown made a layup and a free throw for Davidson. Boyd made a free throw, Goodman made a 3-pointer, and Janowski made a layup for Davidson. Makoi made a layup for Mercer, and Scovens made two free throws for Davidson. Perkins made a 3-pointer for Mercer, and Platteeuw made a hook shot for Davidson. Perkins made a layup, Scovens made one free throw, and Janowski made a jump shot off a turnover. Scovens made a layup, Janowski made a stepback jumper, and Platteeuw made one free throw to give Davidson an 85-70 lead. Perkins made a 3-pointer for Mercer, Brown made a 3-pointer for Davidson, and Goodman made a 3-pointer for Mercer to close the scoring.

Davidson’s decisive stretch came after Perkins made a 3-pointer to cut Mercer’s deficit to 75-68 with 5:25 remaining. The Wildcats responded with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes. Platteeuw made a hook shot, Scovens made two free throws, Janowski made a jump shot off a turnover, Scovens made a layup, Janowski made a stepback jumper and Platteeuw made one free throw. That pushed Davidson’s lead to 85-70. Davidson’s largest lead was 15 points. Mercer never got closer than 12 points after that. Davidson finished with 69 possessions and an offensive rating of 127.1. Mercer finished with 68 possessions and an offensive rating of 111.6. The Wildcats had 11 offensive rebounds, four assists, three blocks, five turnovers and eight fouls. The Bears had 10 offensive rebounds, four assists, three blocks, nine turnovers and 14 fouls. Davidson had four fastbreak points, and Mercer had none.

Janowski’s 25 points came in 32 minutes, and he added four rebounds and three assists. Platteeuw finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 31 minutes. Scovens had 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one block in 35 minutes. Brown scored 18 points with two rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes. Keith had nine points, three rebounds and one assist in 29 minutes. For Mercer, Perkins played 28 minutes and had 29 points, two rebounds and seven assists. Boyd played 27 minutes and had 13 points, eight rebounds and one assist. Goodman played 35 minutes and had 15 points, four rebounds and two assists. Shoulders played 38 minutes and had four points, eight rebounds and one assist. Makoi played 32 minutes and had six points and eight rebounds.

Mercer next plays at Georgia Southern. Davidson next hosts Bradley. Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Mercer 78, Davidson 68. Interstat’s ELO system gave Davidson an 84 percent probability to win. Davidson was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -11.5. The total of 164 finished over the over/under line of 148.