BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Grayson Flittner and Thomas Sanders each scored 19 points, and Gardner-Webb used a 24-6 run in the second half to beat Mercer, 84-71, Thursday night.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (11-13, 5-5 A-Sun) came in to the game tied with Mercer for fifth in the league standings, and were in a hole after trailing by as many as nine in Thursday's first half – and by six, 38-32, at halftime.

Flittner and Sanders would lead an early charge to pull the ‘Dogs in front, combining to score the second half's first seven points to put Gardner-Webb up 39-38 with 18:09 left. The lead would see-saw several times over the next few minutes – with eight ties or lead changes until Mercer held a 54-53 lead with 12:13 remaining in the game.

GWU would explode at that point, as Flittner's fourth three-pointer of the half gave the ‘Dogs the lead for good, 56-54, with 10:29 to play. That started a decisive 24-6 run that saw Gardner-Webb lead 77-60 with 3:49 to play in the game after a Thomas Sanders drive to the hoop.

Flittner scored all of his 19 points after halftime, hitting 5-of-8 shots and 4-of-6 from long range. Sanders had 13 of his 19 after the break, as Gardner-Webb shot a sizzling 54.8 percent from the floor after halftime (17-of-31) and made 14-of-17 free throws. The ‘Dogs scored 52 points after the break on Thursday night – with Flittner and Sanders combining for all by 20 of those.

Sanders tied his career high with 15 rebounds, and notched his A-Sun leading 14th double-double of the season.

Mercer (9-14, 4-6 A-Sun) struggled after building its halftime lead, missing 19 of its first 23 shots after the break. If not for the Bears' proficiency at the charity stripe (17-of-22 in the second half), the game would have gotten out of hand much sooner.

Mercer wound up shooting a frigid 8-of-32 for the half (25.0 percent) and 34.9 percent for the game (34.9 percent) – and couldn't take advantage of 16 offensive rebounds.

Gardner-Webb forced 17 Mercer turnovers, and did a fine job limiting the Bears to a steady diet of perimeter looks in the lopsided second half.

The Bears lost their fourth straight in league play. James Florence led Mercer with 19 points, but missed eight of his first 11 shots and was just 5-of-16 on the night from the floor. Shaddean Aaron (5-of-15) finished with 16 points and Calvin Henry (4-of-11 shooting) had 12 of his 14 points by halftime for the Bears.

In addition to Flittner and Sanders, Gardner-Webb got 13 points from Nate Blank (11 in the first half) and 10 points from Takayo Siddle.

The Runnin' Bulldogs will hit the road on Saturday, trekking to Kennesaw State for a 7 pm ET game in the Peach State. The game will air live on WGWG-FM (88.3), with Fabian Fuentes providing the call.

NOTES: Gardner-Webb got a considerable contribution from a new source Thursday, as 6-foot-11, 270-pound center Matt Maden (Fr.-RS), logged a meaningful and impactful 12 minutes off the bench. The Melbourne, Australia, native managed three points and three rebounds - and was bothersome to Mercer's post players on the defensive end, as the Bears' two starters in the paint went just 2-for-10 combined from the floor ... The Bulldogs shot an impressive 20-of-24 from the stripe (83.3 percent) Thursday ... The win over Mercer marked the first time all season that Gardner-Webb had pulled off a win when trailing at halftime.