Langston Hall scored 24 points and Mercer pulled away for a 60-38 victory over Sam Houston State on Monday night.
After Michael Holyfield scored the game's first basket for Sam Houston State, the Bears (3-1) scored 17 of the next 18 points and went on to lead 23-13 at halftime.
Mercer shot 36 percent in the first half (9 of 36) and didn't get its first basket until the 15:04 mark, but that was considerably better than the Bearkats (1-2), who made just 21.1 percent (4 of 19).
Hall got 16 of his points in the second half, including two 3-pointers during a 12-0 run that broke the game open after the Bearkats got within eight points, 34-26.
Demarcus Gatlin and Marcus James scored nine points each for Sam Houston State.
The game was part of a CBE Classic subregion that also includes South Dakota State and Niagara.
