Mercer University
8-2
Auburn
5-2
Mercer Edged by Auburn Despite Career Night from Lewis
12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
AUBURN, Ala. – The Mercer University men's basketball team fought valiantly at Auburn but came up just short on Tuesday evening, falling to the Tigers 78-71.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior guard Jestin Lewis nearly willed the Bears to a second-half comeback victory at Auburn, scoring 18 of his career-high 28 second half points in the second half. With Mercer trailing 61-53 with just under seven minutes to go, Lewis went to work. The senior scored 12 of the Bears' next 15 points and cut the Auburn lead to one-point at 69-68 with 1:53 remaining. Auburn responded with a big three-pointer from Kareem Canty with just 29 seconds left and the Tigers managed to hold on to the victory.
The Bears and Tigers played an extremely competitive and entertaining opening 20 minutes of basketball on Tuesday evening. Mercer led by as many as six points at 27-21 with just under five minutes to play in the half. However, Auburn answered with a 7-0 run to retake the lead. The Orange and Black were ahead by one in the waning seconds of the half but Auburn scored on an alley-oop just before the buzzer to take a 32-31 lead into the half.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lewis was incredible on Tuesday evening, shooting 11-for-19 from the floor on his way to his personal-best 28 points. Lewis reached double-figures for the third-straight game and sixth time this season. The senior led all scorers on the night, while recording Mercer's highest scoring output of the year and the best since Ike Nwamu finished with 30 against Tennessee last December.
MERCER STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Orange and Black flexed its muscle on the glass as it has all season, outrebounding the Tigers 46-38 on the evening. The performance marks the ninth time out of 10 games that the team won the battle of the boards. 14 of the rebounds came on the offensive end, leading to 16 second-chance points.
NOTABLES
- Stephon Jelks notched his team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The sophomore's 15 boards were the most of any player in the game.
- Mercer and its SoCon-leading defense held the nation's seventh-ranked scoring offense over 10 points below its season average.
- Auburn became just the second time to score more than 70 points against the Bears this season.
- The loss evens the all-time series between the two programs, 16-16.
- Jelks finished just one carom shy of his career-high of 16 against Alabama State.
- The sophomore also finished with 12 points on the night for his fourth double-double of the year, after finding double-digits in the scoring column for the seventh time in 2015-16.
- After battling foul trouble in the first half, Desmond Ringer came to life in the second half. The junior tallied all nine of his points and five of his seven rebounds in the final period.
- Jordan Strawberry dished out a team-high five assists, the sixth time this season that he has reached five helpers and the fifth time he has led the team.
RECORD UPDATE
Mercer suffers its second loss of the season and falls to 8-2, while Auburn is now 5-2 on the year.
UP NEXT: Mercer's second leg of the three game road trip is at Arkansas on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. EST. The Orange and Black wraps up its trip at Ohio State on Tuesday, December 22 at 9 p.m.
STAY SOCIAL: For all the latest information and up-to-the-minute updates on Mercer men's basketball, please follow the team on Twitter at @MercerMBB.
