Mercer University
Wofford
Wofford Edges Mercer Hoops in Battle of Top SoCon Teams
1/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer men's basketball team came within inches of handing Southern Conference leader Wofford its first home loss of the season, but the Terriers escaped with a 49-46 victory on Saturday night.
Mercer dropped to 12-11 (7-3 SoCon) while Wofford won its sixth-straight and jumped to 18-5 (9-1 SoCon).
Junior Ike Nwamu led the Bears with 10 points, while seniors T.J. Hallice and Darious Moten chipped in nine apiece.
Backed by a sizeable contingency of traveling Mercer fans, the Bears went blow-for-blow with the Terriers and found themselves in a 46-46 tie with less than 90 seconds to play. An outstanding defensive possession left Wofford 25 feet from the basket as the shot clock dwindled, but Justin Gordon was able to hit a contested go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:09 on the clock.
The shot was the first made 3-pointer in Gordon's three-year collegiate career.
Mercer raced the other way, and it appeared junior Phillip Leonard had scored an and-one layup until the referees whistled him for a charge. The Terriers had a chance to put the game away on the free throw line, but missed two tosses that gave the Bears a chance for a tie on the final possession.
In the last 16 seconds Mercer launched three 3-point attempts that all missed their mark, cementing Wofford's victory.
Leonard finished with seven points, seven rebounding and four assists. Hallice and junior Jibri Bryan each had eight rebounds.
The matchup featured the league's top two defenses and was played physically from the start. Mercer held Wofford to just 35.7 percent (20-of-56) shooting, but was able to connect on just 36 percent (18-of-50) of its own shots.
Energized by an influx of Mercer fans, the Bears were undaunted by the hostile Benjamin Johnson Arena at the start and took 5-2 lead on baskets by Nwamu and Hallice.
Wofford finally gained its first lead of the night at the 12:39 mark, but two Stephon Jelks buckets and a Moten baseline slam put the Bears right back in front, 13-12. From there, the Bears employed a stingy defense that held Wofford to just four field goals in the final 12 minutes of the period.
Mercer went ahead by six late, but a dunk by Wofford's Karl Cochran closed the period's scoring and sent the Bears to intermission up 26-20.
The Terriers opened the second half on a 15-9 run to earn their biggest lead of the night at 35-29. Nwamu was able to stop the bleeding, scoring five points in 37 seconds to get Mercer back within one.
With 6:49 to play, junior Jestin Lewis elevated to grab a defense rebound and found Jelks on the break for a layup. The play capped a lightning-fast 8-0 surge that gave the Bears a 46-42 advantage while igniting the Mercer faithful.
Jelks's layup proved to be Mercer's final score of the night, as the Bears missed their final eight field goals.
Mercer continues SoCon road play at The Citadel on Feb. 5. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
