Mercer Stretches Streak To Six With 81-64 Victory Over WCU On Senior Night

Tuesday, February 20

Macon, Ga.

7 P.M.

Mercer University

16-13, 9-7

Western Carolina

12-17, 7-9

Western Carolina

Mercer

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Mercer Stretches Streak To Six With 81-64 Victory Over WCU On Senior Night

2/20/2018 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Will Tharp

MACON, Ga. – Demetre Rivers equaled his season-high with 24 points and joined the Mercer 1,000-point club to power Mercer to its sixth straight victory, an 81-64 conquest of Western Carolina Thursday on Senior Night at Hawkins Arena.

Rivers sank nine of 12 field goals, including three of four behind the three point line. Ross Cummings continued his stellar offensive play, tallying 19 points on five of 10 shooting and five of eight from three point land. Senior Desmond Ringer was a perfect six of six from the floor enroute to a 14-point performance and grabbed six rebounds.

Western Carolina jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and was out in front until Mercer's Jason Cohen scored with 12:15 remaining in the opening half to give the Bears their first lead at 17-16. Trailing 28-27 at the 4:42 mark, Mercer proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to move ahead 37-28. The Bears led the remainder of the first half and took a 42-33 advantage into the locker room at the intermission break.

Mercer started fast in the second half and took a 15 point lead, 46-31, when Ross Cummings nailed a three pointer with 16:33 left. The Bears remained in control of the game the rest of the way, leading by as many as 20 points, to claim the 81-64 victory.

Marc Gosselin led the Catamounts with 14 points while Mike Amius scored 11. Mercer outrebounded WCU 31-20.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior forward Demetre Rivers equaled his season-high with a 24-point scoring effort. The 6-7 Rivers hit nine of 12 field goals, including three of four three pointers, and grabbed six rebounds. Rivers also joined the Mercer 1,000-point club and now has 1,010 career points, joining teammates Stephon Jelks and Jordan Strawberry in that exclusive list of Bear performers.

NOTABLES

Ross Cummings may be the biggest story of the second half of the Southern Conference season. Cummings tallied 19 points in the win over WCU and now has scored double figures in eight consecutive games. Against the Catamounts, Cummings hit five of 10 field goals, with all five of his baskets being three pointers.
Desmond Ringer, who is on track to become the career field goal percentage leader in Mercer history, made all six of his field goals against WCU to finish with 14 points and six rebounds.
Mercer shot 56% from the field (28-50) and 87.5% from the free throw line (14-16).
Jordan Strawberry dished out a game-high eight assists with only one turnover. He leads the SoCon in assist/turnover ratio.
Six Mercer senior players and one senior manager were recognized before the game. The senior players included: Ria'n Holland, who is out with an injury; Stephon Jelks; Rashad Lewis, who is out with an injury; Desmond Ringer; Demetre Rivers; and Jordan Strawberry. The senior manager is Elvis Kisonas.

QUOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "It was an emotional night. I think some of our guys were caught up in the moment and it came up very quick. You keep preparing for games and all of a sudden your final home game comes up and it kind of catches you off guard. It was a special night; a lot of their families were here. Demetre (Rivers) was huge early and his length really helped us out against a really good defensive team. I'm so happy for him; he's an amazing guy; he works hard every day; and I'm excited that he's joined the 1,000-point club. This might be one of his best performances. We needed to battle them on the boards like we did. They beat us on the boards at their place and we needed to turn that around. Rebounding was a big part of our win tonight. Des (Ringer) continues to find a way to get good shots and he's playing with the kind of fire that you want to see a senior exhibit. We were fortunate to find a way to win tonight against a very well-coached team. I thought our guys were trending in the right direction even before we got on this winning streak. I think momentum is huge, as much as anything it provides you with the right mindset. I really believe that's what's happened with this group. I think our attitude has really carried us of late. We've been real gritty and our defense has gotten better. I think we're playing a little faster and I think that's really helping us. Where we were a few weeks ago, a lot of senior teams would have checked it in, but we had hope and I credit our seniors for keeping that hope alive … (On two of the seniors being out with injuries): Ria'n (Holland) and Rashad (Lewis) have been great. It's a hard thing being sidelined your senior year. It's especially hard for a guy like Ria'n, who was in the midst of an outstanding season, was the No. 1 player in offensive efficiency in the country, and all of a sudden you get injured and you're out. But, what those two guys have chosen to do is to stay positive and make an impact with their teammates and that's a testament to their character and a testament to how they were raised."

RECORDS UPDATE

Mercer: (16-13, 9-7 SoCon)
WCU: (12-17, 7-9 SoCon)

Up Next
The Bears travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on The Citadel Bulldogs Friday, Feb. 23. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (ET) at McAlister Fieldhouse.

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