Saturday, November 26
Savannah, Ga.
7:30 PM
Mercer University
4-2
63
vs
65
Akron
5-1
1
2
F
Akron
35
30
65
Mercer
27
36
63
Team Stats
AKRON
MER
FG%
.465
.423
3FG%
.500
.368
FT%
.789
.667
RB
24
36
TO
10
11
STL
1
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Comeback Falls Short as Mercer Drops Title Game to Akron, 65-63
11/26/2016 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Isaiah Johnson's layup with 1:32 left gave Akron the lead and the Zips limited Mercer to just one shot in the final minute to beat the Bears 65-63 on Saturday night in the championship game of the Savannah Invitational.
Desmond Ringer took a feed from Demetre Rivers and converted at the rim to pull Mercer even, 63-63 with just under two minutes to play, but after Jordan Strawberry missed a jumper with 1:10 left the Bears were unable to get off another shot.
Johnson finished with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field. Antino Jackson added another 14 points and Akron (5-1) shot 20 of 43 (46.5 percent) from the floor for the game, including 10 of 20 from distance, and was 15 of 19 from the free throw line.
Ria'n Holland scored 17 points to lead Mercer (4-2), with Ringer adding another 16 points and Rivers chipping in 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Akron jumped out to a quick lead and led by as many as 12 midway through the first half. Mercer would cut that deficit almost in half and enter halftime trailing 35-27.
The second half was a different story as the Bears aggressively came out of the game and slowly started to whittle away at Akron's lead. All-Tournament selection Ria'n Holland cut the lead to one with a three at the 4:30 mark then Desmond Ringer's layup with 1:59 to go tied the game at 63-63. Akron's Isaiah Johnson would give the Zips their final lead with a layup with 1:32 to go. Mercer would come down the court with a chance to tie or take the lead but Jordan Strawberry would miss a jump shot with 1:10 to go and Akron would come down with the rebound.
Stephon Jelks would grab a board with nine seconds remaining and the Bears would call timeout with 1.9 seconds left on the clock to try to set up a play but a swarming defense by Akron would not allow a shot from the Bears.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
While Ria'n Holland did lead the team with 17 points, tonight's POTG honor goes to Desmond Ringer. With just four points and one rebound at halftime, Ringer came out a new man in the second half and finished the game with a season-best 16 points – the most he has scored in a game since last January against UNCG – and six rebounds. He was responsible for the first eight points from Mercer in the second half and provided strong defensive pressure in the paint.
STAT OF THE GAME
50 percent. Akron not only shot 50 percent from beyond the arc but half of their field goals were treys. That ability to sink shots from deep enabled to keep Mercer at bay for most of the game.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS
"That was a tremendous team. Akron does everything right. They can shoot the ball as well as anybody. You play against it and their spacing is so good, they are tremendous in everything they do. The first 10 minutes they just got into us and we didn't adjust as quick as we needed to. We really didn't have the energy we needed in order to win against a team like that. Then the last 30 minutes we had tremendous energy, a lot of pop, made big plays, but we just didn't get the last one to get it done."
On the halftime message:
"We just told them that they have to keep believing in each other, believe in themselves, believe in their skills. More importantly, they have to go get the glass. We owned the glass tonight, we dominated the rebounding. We just weren't hitting the shots, we weren't underneath the ball. There were several plays that could have gone a different way, just like last night but we ended up winning and making those plays."
RECORDS UPDATE
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.
NOTABLES
Desmond Ringer took a feed from Demetre Rivers and converted at the rim to pull Mercer even, 63-63 with just under two minutes to play, but after Jordan Strawberry missed a jumper with 1:10 left the Bears were unable to get off another shot.
Johnson finished with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field. Antino Jackson added another 14 points and Akron (5-1) shot 20 of 43 (46.5 percent) from the floor for the game, including 10 of 20 from distance, and was 15 of 19 from the free throw line.
Ria'n Holland scored 17 points to lead Mercer (4-2), with Ringer adding another 16 points and Rivers chipping in 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Akron jumped out to a quick lead and led by as many as 12 midway through the first half. Mercer would cut that deficit almost in half and enter halftime trailing 35-27.
The second half was a different story as the Bears aggressively came out of the game and slowly started to whittle away at Akron's lead. All-Tournament selection Ria'n Holland cut the lead to one with a three at the 4:30 mark then Desmond Ringer's layup with 1:59 to go tied the game at 63-63. Akron's Isaiah Johnson would give the Zips their final lead with a layup with 1:32 to go. Mercer would come down the court with a chance to tie or take the lead but Jordan Strawberry would miss a jump shot with 1:10 to go and Akron would come down with the rebound.
Stephon Jelks would grab a board with nine seconds remaining and the Bears would call timeout with 1.9 seconds left on the clock to try to set up a play but a swarming defense by Akron would not allow a shot from the Bears.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
While Ria'n Holland did lead the team with 17 points, tonight's POTG honor goes to Desmond Ringer. With just four points and one rebound at halftime, Ringer came out a new man in the second half and finished the game with a season-best 16 points – the most he has scored in a game since last January against UNCG – and six rebounds. He was responsible for the first eight points from Mercer in the second half and provided strong defensive pressure in the paint.
STAT OF THE GAME
50 percent. Akron not only shot 50 percent from beyond the arc but half of their field goals were treys. That ability to sink shots from deep enabled to keep Mercer at bay for most of the game.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS
"That was a tremendous team. Akron does everything right. They can shoot the ball as well as anybody. You play against it and their spacing is so good, they are tremendous in everything they do. The first 10 minutes they just got into us and we didn't adjust as quick as we needed to. We really didn't have the energy we needed in order to win against a team like that. Then the last 30 minutes we had tremendous energy, a lot of pop, made big plays, but we just didn't get the last one to get it done."
On the halftime message:
"We just told them that they have to keep believing in each other, believe in themselves, believe in their skills. More importantly, they have to go get the glass. We owned the glass tonight, we dominated the rebounding. We just weren't hitting the shots, we weren't underneath the ball. There were several plays that could have gone a different way, just like last night but we ended up winning and making those plays."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 4-2 (1-2 Neutral)
- Akron: 5-1 (2-0 Neutral)
- Mercer: Hosts Davidson on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.
- Akron: Hosts Adrian on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
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.
NOTABLES
- Akron now leads the all-time series against Mercer, 1-0, while the Bears are 1-5 all-time against the Mid-American Conference
- Rated 82nd in the KenPom ratings, Akron is the highest-rated team Mercer has faced so far this year
- With the loss Mercer is now 2-1 in its last three tournament championship games (in-season and postseason) and 3-4 all-time under Bob Hoffman
- Mercer falls to 11-12 on neutral floors under Bob Hoffman
- The Bears are now 4-2 all-time in Savannah
- Akron's 46.5 percent shooting from the field was the best any Mercer opponent has posted against the Bears this season.
- Desmond Ringer's 16 points are the most he has scored in a game since scoring 16 against UNCG last January
- With 17 points tonight, Ria'n Holland has been in double figures in every game this season
- Desmond Williams, FAMU
- Derick Newton, Stetson
- Ike Smith, Georgia Southern
- Ed Polite Jr., Radford
- Frank Toohey, Air Force
- B.J. Tyson, East Carolina
- Ria'n Holland, Mercer
- Antino Jackson, Akron
- Isaiah Johnson, Akron, (MVP)
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