West Windsor, N.J. - It was a tale of two halves last night for Mercer men's basketball and fortunately the team's better half was the second one. The Vikings trailed 29-16 at halftime, but rocketed past the #5 seeded County College of Morris to a 60-47 victory in the opening round of the Region 19 Playoffs.

The #4 seeded Vikings will travel to Lackawanna to face the #1 seeded Falcons on their home court in the region semifinals Friday, Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. The Vikings upset the Falcons last year (also seeded #1) in the Region 19 Finals to earn a trip to the Division II National Championship in Danville, IL.

Last night's game was was a total team effort. After struggling to hit outside shots in the first half, the Vikings shot 50 percent from the field in the second half to take a lead they never relinquished. They were led by sophomore guard Anthony Obery, who had 19 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Obery seemed to be all over the court at times in the tense and physical game.

The Vikings were boosted by the return of sophomore forward and All Region selection Gary Carthan, who had been absent from the lineup for the past three weeks due to a shoulder injury. Carthan had 12 points and 2 blocks in his return to action. They also got solid performances from sophomore guard Jonathan Jernigan, who had 11 points and 8 rebounds, and freshman guard Rodney Walters, who scored 12 points despite limited playing time due to foul trouble.

Sophomore guard Jermaine Emanuel added 7 rebounds, freshmen forward Esad Kiris had 4 rebounds, and freshman forward Brandin Youngblood had 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists.

The Vikings will be counting on two good halves of basketball on Friday as they set their sights on defeating Lackawanna for a second straight year. The winner will play in the Region 19 final on Sunday, also at Lackawanna, against either Del Tech Stanton or Salem.