Mercer University
East Tenn. St.
Men's Basketball Edged at ETSU, 71-70
1/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Mercer men's basketball team mounted a furious rally from down 13 in the second half, but a potential game-winner at the buzzer found iron in Thursday night's 71-70 loss to ETSU at Freedom Hall.
Mercer (8-9, 3-1 SoCon) saw its bid at a third-straight conference road win fall short, while ETSU (9-4, 4-1 SoCon) snapped a five-game losing streak against Mercer.
After ETSU had taken a 66-53 lead, the Bears began a 17-5 run over the final seven minutes of the game to get within one with 40 seconds to play. ETSU had possession and milked the clock until junior Jibri Bryan poked the ball loose and Mercer was able to force a possession-changing jump ball with 8.5 tics to go.
Freshman Jordan Strawberry advanced the ball into the offensive end and head coach Bob Hoffman called a quick timeout. With 2.5 seconds remaining, Hoffman drew up a play for senior Darious Moten, who was freed for a turnaround jumper that missed its mark as time expired.
Junior Jestin Lewis scored a season-high 18 points in the loss, while Moten and Bryan finished with 13 and 11, respectively. Strawberry scored nine points and dished three assists, while his classmate Stephon Jelks netted eight to go along with a season-high seven rebounds.
Mercer switched from man to zone defense inside the final five minutes, as was able to hold ETSU to just four more points using the tactic. Strawberry, Lewis, Bryan, Jelks and Moten played nearly the entire final five minutes, each contributing key plays during the comeback.
Senior T.J. Hallice scored five points and grabbed six rebounds while playing through injury. The Bears outshot the Bucs 45.6 percent to 41.4 percent, but were beaten by a 39-33 margin on the glass.
ETSU got a break right off the bat as the opening tipoff was batted towards their basket and Rashawn Rembert scored a layup just four seconds into the game. Moments later, the Bucs got the house jumping with an alley-oop slam, and fed off the momentum while taking a 12-6 lead before the first media timeout.
The margin was still six when Moten fought through contact for an inside layup that sparked a 7-0 run. The final basket of the stretch, one of Lewis' three first half 3-pointers, gave the Bears a 17-16 lead with 10:13 to go in the period.
Mercer eventually went ahead by six late in the stanza, but ETSU benefitted from two layups inside the final minute to cut it to 36-34 at the break.
The Bears return to Hawkins Arena for the first time in over three weeks on Saturday, hosting The Citadel in a 4 p.m. tipoff.
