Cedar Rapids, IA - Playing with an entirely new lineup for the 2008-09 season, Judson University fought to the end in the season opener as they fell to Mt. Mercy College, 79-77. Judson had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds of the game but did not convert as Mt. Mercy took the win in the Bosch Financial Classic.

"It was a tale of two halves and we have a brand new group without Dewayne (Robinson) this first semester," says head coach Tony Tompkins. "We want to learn from each game and improve each half. I was so proud of our guys and how hard they played."

Judson was led by a pair of freshman as Landon Skinner scored a career-high 28 points followed by Josh Edwards 17 points. Junior Ben Rayhorn netted 13 points. LeStan Hoskins led Judson with seven rebounds. Martin Tope had 20 points for Mt. Mercy.

Running out of the gates from the beginning, Judson had as large as a 10-point lead, 14-4, just five minutes into the game. Rayhorn converted three straight free throws when he was fouled taking a three-pointer. After that lead, Mt. Mercy answered with a 24-8 run over seven minutes to take a six-point lead, 28-22. Judson cut the lead to one, 30-29, with 4:24 left in the half, and then went into the half with a 10-point deficit, 41-31.

Rebounding and missing shots was a big key in the first half as Mt. Mercy had 12 offensive rebounds and out rebounded Judson, 25 to 11. Judson also missed 18 shots.

Mt. Mercy took a 15-point lead with 18:38 to go in the game, 48-33, but Judson cut it to eight, 50-42, in just under four minutes with a layup by Rayhorn. Over the next four minutes, Judson cut the lead to single digits, as much as four points down, but with 10:10 to go, Mt. Mercy still had a 10-point lead, 64-54. Judson went on a 11-2 run over three minutes to come within one, 66-65, on two Dovydas Retkus free throws with just 6:57 to go in the game.

That is as close as Judson would come until the final minute when they were down by two, 79-77, with 1:04 left in the game. Judson had a chance to tie the game with 40 seconds to go but turned the ball over. After a great defensive stop, Judson received the ball back with eight seconds left. Judson then missed the shot to tie the game as Mt. Mercy won.

Judson finished shooting 42% from the floor and 40% overall and made 73% from the free throw line. Mt. Mercy shot 48% from the floor and 23% from beyond the arc. Mt. Mercy out rebounded Judson, 39-33, and had more turnovers, 25-24.

Judson will now face William Woods in the consolation game at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 8^th.