Shut Down Second Half Propels Mercer to 87-53 Win

Friday, November 11

Macon, Ga.

8:30 PM ET

Mercer University

1-0

Brewton-Parker

4-2

Team	1	2	F
Brewton-Parker	35	18	53
Mercer	45	42	87

Baraka Okojie Named to NABC All-District Second Team

Tuesday, March 17

Mercer Drops 77-73 Result To Western Carolina In SoCon Tournament

Saturday, March 07

Mercer Meets Western Carolina In SoCon Tournament Quarterfinals Saturday

Friday, March 06

Mighty And Okojie Earn Spots On All-SoCon Team

Wednesday, March 04

Next Event

Florida

L, 54-76

Nov 13 (Sun)

8:00 PM ET

Box Score Recap Photo Gallery Watch Listen Live stats Tickets

Full Schedule

Team Stats

BRWP

MER

FG%

.313

.531

3FG%

.265

.385

FT%

1.000

.692

STL

Jordan Strawberry

/ Men's Basketball

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Shut Down Second Half Propels Mercer to 87-53 Win

11/11/2016 11:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Patrick T. Walsh

MACON, Ga. – Ria'n Holland scored a game-high 24 points in his first game at Mercer and the Bears ended the game on a 28-0 run as Mercer defeated Brewton-Parker, 87-53, in front of 3,553 fans at Hawkins Arena Friday night.

After leading by only 10 at half, Mercer (1-0) held the Barons (4-2) scoreless over the final 12:25 in the game, making 22 consecutive stops on the floor.

Demetre Rivers added 18 points for Mercer while Brewton-Parker was led by McKel Miller's 11 points.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Credit Ria'n Holland for a tremendous inaugural game in a Bears uniform. The newcomer scored 24 points as he was 7-of-14 from the field including hitting 5 of his 11 three-point attempts.

STAT OF THE NIGHT
12:25. That was the last point in the second half that Brewton-Parker scored thanks to a lock-down Bears defense that made 22 consecutive stops. That defense, along with a 28-0 run to end the game, is what propelled Mercer to its 34-point win Friday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It wasn't all shut down defense for Mercer. A pesky Brewton-Parker squad shot 43.8 percent from the field in the first half only trailed by 10 at intermission. Mercer's lead would grow to as many as 13 midway through the half but was trimmed to five with under five minutes to go on the heels of a 6-0 Baron.

Mercer's lead hovered around 10 early in the second half before Brewton-Parker cut the lead to six with a Jamelle Lanier three-pointer with 12:25 remaining. However that would be the last points the Barons would score in the contest.

COACH HOFFMAN'S TAKE
"It wasn't so much a slow start but a really good team we were playing. They have good players. We talked about it for several days. They play the way you are supposed to play – they are very unselfish, they have good shooters, good ball handlers and passers. WE were in a dog fight and we knew we were going to have to play. Then their size bothered us because we were having to match up with bigs on the perimeter, forcing us to play a lot of zone which we don't like to do."
It was a good game and was basically what I thought it was going to be like at the beginning. Then we were able to find ways to get some separation, which was good."

On the 28-0 run:
"Coach Esleeck does a great job with the defense and I thought our guys were more engaged. We still have to get better at communicating and finding each other. We have a lot of guys that are still new and are trying to figure out how we go about things and how we are going to play – and we do some things that are a little weird. I'm thrilled how they fought through it and believed in each other and were excited for each other's success. That is a hallmark of a great team, if you can continue those things. Then we need to shore up our defensive liabilities that we showed tonight, I think we can definitely get better at that."

On Ria'n Holland:
"I told everyone all along that sometimes when you come out of junior college you don't understand what Division I basketball is completely. He had the fortune of playing at a tremendous program (Wichita State) and he was a great player on an amazing team so he has already had his feet wet multiple times. We knew going in he was going to be up to the challenge."

"It was just getting him in good position. I thought our guys found in really well tonight. Jordan Strawberry had 11 assists to one turnover, which is as good as you can do, and Ria'n was special tonight. But I think he can be even more special than he was."

RECORD UPDATE

Mercer: 1-0
Brewton-Parker: 4-2

UP NEXT

Mercer: vs. Florida in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU
Brewton-Parker: at Kennesaw State on Monday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN3

NOTABLES

Mercer is now 2-1 all-time against Brewton-Parker
Mercer is now 8-1 in season openers under Bob Hoffman
The Bears have won three consecutive season openers
Ria'n Holland's 24 points marked a career high. His previous career-best performance was scoring nine points against George Washington on Dec. 25, 2014 while a member of Wichita State's squad.
Mercer is now 45-15 in games following a loss over the last six seasons (Mercer fell to Coastal Carolina at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season).
Mercer is now 71-12 at Hawkins Arena since the start of the 2011-12 season.
Stephon Jelks scored 10 points in the contest marking the 29^th career game with double-digit scoring.
Jordan Strawberry dished out 11 assists marking his first career game with double-digit assists.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerMBB (Twitter), /MercerBasketball (Facebook) and @Mercer_MBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.