Of all the teams that have been drawn for the Following the Compass, no team has ended the season as successfully as the 2011-12 Mercer Bears. I caught a game at the beginning of the year, when they played the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles at home in Macon. They faltered in the Atlantic Sun tournament, falling to that same FGCU team, but were invited to the College Insider.com tournament.
In case you couldn’t tell by the banner (which is currently on the welcome page of MercerBears.com), Mercer won the tournament last night in Logan Utah. They defeated Tennessee State and Georgia State at home before they moved on to finish the rest of their tournament on the road, playing Old Dominion, Fairfield and eventually Utah State.
The Aggies were a tournament team last year, and among the teams that many suspected could be a sleeper. This year, obviously, they were substantially weaker, playing in the 4th of the post season tournaments.Still, they were at home, playing the Bears, who had spent the last three games on the road.
It’s a great victory for Mercer, even if we might scoff at the CIT as a tournament. It’s a national tournament won by a conference that doesn’t have a countrywide presence. The Bears and all of Mercer can be proud of their team and the strong season. Congratulations, Mercer Bears!
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