Saturday, January 14
Macon, Ga.
2 PM ET
Mercer University
vs
Chattanooga
Mercer Hosts SoCon-Leading Mocs Saturday
1/13/2017 2:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – For a second consecutive Saturday, Mercer is hosting the league's best team at Hawkins Arena. Chattanooga, now atop the SoCon standings, heads to Macon to face the Bears on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ASN.
GAMEDAY DETAILS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 14 | 2 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (8-10, 2-3 SoCon) vs. Chattanooga (13-4, 4-1 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,500)
TV: ASN | How to Watch | Watch ESPN (blackout restrictions apply)
TV Talent: Pete Yanity (play-by-play), Dean Keener (analyst), Kristin Banks (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 | Chattanooga
Series History
A close series has been made even closer in recent contests. Chattanooga leads, 34-31, and the Mocs have won three straight but two of the last four games have gone to overtime and five of the last 10 have been decided by one possession.
Last Time Out
Mercer tied a season-high 14 3-pointers and Stephon Jelks notched a double-double as Mercer held on for a 68-65 win at Samford Wednesday night.
???????Jelks was 4 of 12 from the field including four 3-pointers for the Bears (8-10, 2-3 SoCon). Demetre Rivers added 13 points and five rebounds, Jordan Strawberry had 12 points and four rebounds and Ria'n Holland chipped in 11 points.
The Bears trailed 31-30 at the break and the teams battled back-and-forth in the second until Jelks sank a 3-pointer that gave the Bears the lead for good, 61-59, with 5:04 to play. A pair of free throws by Wyatt Walker brought Samford to within one, 66-65, with six seconds to play but Rashad Lewis replied for Mercer with two foul shots of his own and Samford's Christen Cunningham missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Last Time vs. Chattanooga
MACON, Ga. (AP) - Eric Robertson hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points and Chattanooga won its ninth straight game by edging Mercer 72-66 in overtime Monday night.
???????Demetre Rivers scored the first basket of overtime but Mercer did not hit its next field goal until the 16-second mark when Phillip Leonard pulled the Bears to 70-66. Chattanooga's Johnathan Burroughs-Cook answered with two free throws for a six-point lead.
Tre' McLean added 16 points and Justin Tuoyo 14 for Chattanooga (22-3, 11-1 Southern), which made just 37 percent from the field but hit 17 of 20 free throws.
Rivers, a sophomore, scored a career-best 20 points for Mercer (18-7, 8-4), which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Leonard finished with 18 points. Ethan Stair hit a wide open 3-pointer from the wing with 38.2 seconds left in regulation -- Mercer's only points in the final four minutes -- to tie it at 59-all and force overtime.
Saturday in the Park
Saturday seems to be no walk in the park for Mercer. The Bears are currently 0-5 on Saturdays and are looking to notch their first Saturday win as the Mocs visit Macon.
Win No. 80? Quite the Homecourt Advantage
A win for the Bears on Saturday against Chattanooga would mark the team's 80th win at Hawkins Arena since the start of the 2011-12 season. That's an average of over 13.3 wins at home per season. To put that in perspective, Mercer is hosting 15 home games this year.
40 Percent Rule Finally Flummoxed
Mercer finally found a way to beat the "40 percent rule" when the Bears pulled out a win at Samford on Jan. 11. That rule - which has nothing to do with academics or scholarship allocations - showed that Mercer was winless when shooting under 40 percent from the field. That finally was beat as the Bears shot 39.3 percent from the field (22-for-56) in a 68-65 win over the Bulldogs.
Prior to that game, the Bears had been 0-4 this season when shooting under 40 percent. 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.
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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 78th in the nation. Bears opponents have accumulated a record of 124-99 so far this season, a .556 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
The Bears are currently in the middle of one of the toughest stretches of any SoCon team this year. Coming off games against ETSU (3-0) and at Samford (3-2), Mercer now hosts Chattanooga (4-1) before playing at UNCG (3-1).
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.
GAMEDAY DETAILS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 14 | 2 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (8-10, 2-3 SoCon) vs. Chattanooga (13-4, 4-1 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,500)
TV: ASN | How to Watch | Watch ESPN (blackout restrictions apply)
TV Talent: Pete Yanity (play-by-play), Dean Keener (analyst), Kristin Banks (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 | Chattanooga
Series History
A close series has been made even closer in recent contests. Chattanooga leads, 34-31, and the Mocs have won three straight but two of the last four games have gone to overtime and five of the last 10 have been decided by one possession.
Last Time Out
Mercer tied a season-high 14 3-pointers and Stephon Jelks notched a double-double as Mercer held on for a 68-65 win at Samford Wednesday night.
???????Jelks was 4 of 12 from the field including four 3-pointers for the Bears (8-10, 2-3 SoCon). Demetre Rivers added 13 points and five rebounds, Jordan Strawberry had 12 points and four rebounds and Ria'n Holland chipped in 11 points.
The Bears trailed 31-30 at the break and the teams battled back-and-forth in the second until Jelks sank a 3-pointer that gave the Bears the lead for good, 61-59, with 5:04 to play. A pair of free throws by Wyatt Walker brought Samford to within one, 66-65, with six seconds to play but Rashad Lewis replied for Mercer with two foul shots of his own and Samford's Christen Cunningham missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Last Time vs. Chattanooga
MACON, Ga. (AP) - Eric Robertson hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points and Chattanooga won its ninth straight game by edging Mercer 72-66 in overtime Monday night.
???????Demetre Rivers scored the first basket of overtime but Mercer did not hit its next field goal until the 16-second mark when Phillip Leonard pulled the Bears to 70-66. Chattanooga's Johnathan Burroughs-Cook answered with two free throws for a six-point lead.
Tre' McLean added 16 points and Justin Tuoyo 14 for Chattanooga (22-3, 11-1 Southern), which made just 37 percent from the field but hit 17 of 20 free throws.
Rivers, a sophomore, scored a career-best 20 points for Mercer (18-7, 8-4), which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Leonard finished with 18 points. Ethan Stair hit a wide open 3-pointer from the wing with 38.2 seconds left in regulation -- Mercer's only points in the final four minutes -- to tie it at 59-all and force overtime.
Saturday in the Park
Saturday seems to be no walk in the park for Mercer. The Bears are currently 0-5 on Saturdays and are looking to notch their first Saturday win as the Mocs visit Macon.
Win No. 80? Quite the Homecourt Advantage
A win for the Bears on Saturday against Chattanooga would mark the team's 80th win at Hawkins Arena since the start of the 2011-12 season. That's an average of over 13.3 wins at home per season. To put that in perspective, Mercer is hosting 15 home games this year.
40 Percent Rule Finally Flummoxed
Mercer finally found a way to beat the "40 percent rule" when the Bears pulled out a win at Samford on Jan. 11. That rule - which has nothing to do with academics or scholarship allocations - showed that Mercer was winless when shooting under 40 percent from the field. That finally was beat as the Bears shot 39.3 percent from the field (22-for-56) in a 68-65 win over the Bulldogs.
Prior to that game, the Bears had been 0-4 this season when shooting under 40 percent. 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.
Â
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 78th in the nation. Bears opponents have accumulated a record of 124-99 so far this season, a .556 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
The Bears are currently in the middle of one of the toughest stretches of any SoCon team this year. Coming off games against ETSU (3-0) and at Samford (3-2), Mercer now hosts Chattanooga (4-1) before playing at UNCG (3-1).
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.
Players Mentioned
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