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In a Great Alaska Shootout game that will be remembered for the world's longest overtime period, the bounce-back Mercer Bears outlasted the comeback Rice Owls 77-71 Thursday night.
Mercer, which rattled the college basketball world last March by upsetting Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament, got 21 points from Ike Nwamu and 20 from Jibri Bryant to hold off a Rice team that pressed its way back into the first-round game after trailing by 15 points.
"That was a long game, wasn't it?" Rice coach Michael Rhoades said.
Read more: Mercer weathers Rice comeback to win in OT
Alaska Dispatch Publishing