Men's Hoops Challenges Bethune-Cookman Friday
12/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MERCER GAME NOTES | BETHUNE-COOKMAN NOTES
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team closes out a four-game homestand on Friday, challenging Bethune-Cookman at 7 p.m. The game is part of a Hawkins Arena doubleheader that also features Mercer women's basketball hosting Belmont at 5 p.m.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Friday, December 19 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (5-5) vs. Bethune-Cookman (3-8)
Location: Macon, Ga.
Television: ESPN3 (Dan Mathews, Kevin Canevari)
Radio: New Country 96.5 | IHeartRadio (Rick Cameron)
Livestats: MercerBears.com
Tickets: Mercer Ticket Sales
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Wildcats own a 3-8 record on the season and are set to play their third consecutive road game on Friday night. The squad is 0-5 in enemy territory this year, with losses at Grand Canyon, South Carolina State, UCF, Monmouth and Arizona State.
Bethune-Cookman returns four starters from last year's team that finished 7-25 (5-11 MEAC). In preseason polling of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference coaches and sports information directors, the Wildcats were picked to finish 10th in the 13-team league standings. Senior Mikel Trapp was named a Preseason All-Conference second team selection in the same poll.
Mikel pairs with sophomore Clemmye Owens to form a formidable backcourt scoring duo, having combined for an average of 26.7 points per game this season. In the frontcourt, junior forward Quentin Brewer has posted three double-doubles and sports averages of 9.1 points and 7.8 points per game.
Head coach Gravelle Craig holds a 42-70 record in his fourth season with Bethune-Cookman. Prior to taking the position, Craig was an assistant coach at Chicago State and Morris Brown.
FAST FACTS
Friday's meeting is the sixth all-time matchup between the teams, with Mercer winning each of the previous five games. The Bears and Wildcats have not faced each other since Dec. 1, 1986.
Mercer's loss to Dartmouth was the team's first non-conference home defeat since Nov. 23, 2011. The Bears had gone 1,119 days since the last time it happened, against South Dakota State on Nov. 23, 2011.
Jordan Strawberry and Ike Nwamu teamed up for a SportsCenter Top-10 play against Dartmouth. Strawberry's alley-oop pass to Nwamu landed at No. 8 in the show's Dec. 16 countdown.
Ike Nwamu is 41 points shy of 500 for his two-year Mercer career. Nwamu, who scored 59 points in 2011-12 with Cleveland State, scored his 500th collegiate point against VMI on Dec. 6.
Mercer is 29-6 after a loss over the last three seasons. The Bears' loss to Pacific in the Great Alaska Shootout marked the first time the squad dropped consecutive games in the same season since Nov. 17, 2012.
