Quick Break from Homestand Takes Mercer to Samford Wednesday

MACON, Ga. – Amidst a stretch of four home contests in five games, Mercer will take its lone step away from Hawkins Arena as the Bears play at Samford Wednesday evening. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT with the game airing on ESPN3.

GAMEDAY DETAILS
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 11 | 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT
Teams: Mercer (7-10, 1-3 SoCon) at Samford (12-5, 3-1 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Pete Hanna Center (5,000)
TV: ESPN3 | Watch ESPN
TV Talent: Chris Stewart (play-by-play), Tyler Hood (analyst), Hattie Breece (sideline)
Radio: Mercer Sports Network (Flagship: 97.3 FM The Bull Icons) | iHeartRadio
Radio Talent: Rick Cameron (play-by-play)
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
Tickets: Click Here to Purchase
Game Notes: Mercer | SoCon | Samford

Series History
Recently, it's been swell. Mercer has claimed the last five outings and every meeting since the two teams resumed sharing a conference as part of the Southern Conference with all but one of those wins coming by well more than one possession. Overall, Mercer leads the all-time series, 63-45, but Samford has a 24-21 edge in Birmingham.

Last Time Out
Ria'n Holland scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half but a late run by ETSU propelled the Bucs to a 67-58 win over host Mercer Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.
T.J. Cromer scored 23 points and Desonta Bradford had 15 points to lead ETSU (13-3, 3-0 SoCon).

With the score tied at 27, Cromer hit a 3, a layup and another 3 to give East Tennessee State a 35-30 lead. The Bears then responded with a 12-0 run and led 42-35 with 11:41 to play. Bradford's layup with 6:57 left gave East Tennessee State (13-3, 3-0 Southern Conference) the lead for good at 48-47. He followed with a dunk and Cromer added a 3 capping an 18-5 Buccaneers run. Jordan Strawberry added a layup and Mercer (7-10, 1-3) couldn't get closer.

The Last Time vs. Samford
Jestin Lewis hit four 3-pointers and scored 26, and Stephon Jelks added 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Mercer past Samford 85-70 Monday night.

Phillip Leonard had a career-high tying 10 assists for Mercer, which shot a season-high 58 percent from the field and improved to 9-0 this season when hitting at least half its field-goal attempts.

Lewis hit a jumper, then a 3-pointer to spark and 11-4 run which gave the Bears (17-7, 7-3 Southern Conference) a 32-24 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

Back-to-back layups by Ethan Stair capped a 10-2 spurt which gave Mercer its biggest lead of the game, 50-34, with 14:57 to play and Samford never again got closer than down seven.

Darius Jones-Gibson scored 17 with seven assists while Jamal Shabazz added 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (11-12, 2-8), who have lost four in a row.

The 40 Percent Rule?
Mercer seems to be adhering to the 40 percent rule and it has nothing to do with academics or scholarship allocations. So far this season Mercer has failed to win a game (0-4) when shooting under 40.0 percent from the field. While that threshold doesn't hold true to if the Bears will win - Mercer is 7-6 this year when shooting 40 percent and above - it does seem to be a good measurement of a loss in the record books.

Does It Get Any Easier?
Bob Hoffman claimed before the season started that this might be Mercer's toughest schedule yet in his nine years in Macon. He might be right. Mercer's strength of schedule currently ranks 98th in the nation. Bears opponents have accumulated a record of 109-91 so far this season, a .545 winning clip.

Mercer's strength of schedule went as high as 16th in the country before facing Kennesaw State and starting conference play.

Certainly not in SoCon Play
Entering this upcoming game at Samford (3-1) - the fifth game of SoCon play for the Bears - and Mercer will be facing the third league team in the upper echelon of the SoCon standings. The Orange and Black have already faced league-leader ETSU (3-0) and Furman (3-1) along with Wofford (1-3) and VMI (0-3). And it doesn't get any easier. The Bears return home Saturday to host preseason favorite Chattanooga (3-1) before heading to UNCG (3-1) next week.

Sponsorship with Rolaids coming?
Because Mercer fans might need one. Mercer has already played in six one-possession games this season (posting a 2-4 record) and suffered back-to-back heartbreaking losses. The first came at Auburn on Dec. 18 as the Tigers hit an off-balance fadeaway buzzer-beater for the win. Then, four days later, La Salle edged Mercer in triple overtime (98-96) on Dec. 22. That follows a two-point loss to Akron from the Savannah Invitational. The Bears finally got back on the right track on Dec. 28 with an 80-76 win at Kennesaw State.

It's Nothing New
Close games seem to be the norm for the Bears. Mercer played in 10 games decided by one possession last season, posting a 7-3 record in those games. That adds to the growing number of close games this season (see above).

Sometimes 40 Minutes Isn't Enough
When Mercer's Dec. 22 game against La Salle entered the third overtime period, it tied for the longest game in school history. Including that contest, Mercer has played in five triple-overtime games in the program's 105 seasons of basketball, going 1-4 in those contests.

Overall, Mercer has played in 95 overtime games in school history and has a 48-47 record in those contests. In the now nine seasons under Bob Hoffman, the Bears are 13-11 in OT games.

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.

Quick Break from Homestand Takes Mercer to Samford Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Ria'n Holland

Stephon Jelks

Phillip Leonard

Jestin Lewis

Ethan Stair

Jordan Strawberry

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