Mercer Heads to UNCG for Thursday Tilt

MACON, Ga. – Mercer returns to the road on Thursday as the Bears travel to Greensboro to face the league-leading Spartans of UNCG at 7 p.m.

GAMEDAY DETAILS
Date: Thursday, Jan. 19 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (8-11, 2-4 SoCon) at UNCG (14-5, 5-1 SoCon)
Location: Greensboro, N.C. | Greensboro Coliseum (7,617)
TV: ESPN3 | Watch ESPN
TV Talent: Scott Pryzwansky (play-by-play), Darryl Kosciak (analyst), Meg Sloggett (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 | UNCG

Series History
Almost perfect. In a nutshell, that is what describles Mercer's history against UNCG. The Bears are 6-1 all-time and had a perfect record before the Spartans claimed a 69-65 win last season for UNCG's first win in the series.

Last Time Out
Mercer shot a scorching 58.6 percent from the field in the first half and Ria'n Holland scored a game-high 22 points, but the Bears fell to Chattanooga, 70-68, in a back-and-forth contest Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.

With 10 seconds remaining Holland had a potential game-tying three-point attempt blocked by Chattanooga's Justin Tuoyo. The block led to an eventual made free throw by Rodney Chatman that sealed the game at 70-66 before Stephon Jelks made a layup as time expired.

Mercer (8-11, 2-4 Southern Conference) led 38-34 at halftime and scored 32 points in the paint of the visiting Mocs, who improved to 14-4 overall and 5-1 in league play.

The Last Time vs. UNCG
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Asad Lamot made a pair of free throws with 13.2 seconds left to help UNC Greensboro pull away and beat Mercer 69-65 on Sunday for its fifth straight win.

With the victory, UNC Greensboro (14-17, 10-8 Southern) clinched the No. 6 seed and will face third-seeded Furman in the conference tournament. Mercer (18-12, 8-10) is the No. 7 seed and will play 10th-seeded The Citadel.

Francis Alonso scored 15 points to lead the Spartans. Kayle Locke, Jr. and RJ White, Jr. added 12 points apiece, and Lamot finished with 10.

Demetre Rivers had 19 points for Mercer (18-13, 8-10).

Phillip Leonard split a pair of free throws to pull the Bears to 66-65 before Lamont made two to stretch the Spartans' lead to 68-65. On Mercer's next possession, Jordan Strawberry stepped out of bounds on a dribble exchange with 6.9 seconds left, and Diante Baldwin added a free throw to seal it.

Ria'n is More Reliable than A Rolex
Death, taxes and Ria'n Holland scoring 20-plus points. Like clockwork, these seem to be the three constants in life. Holland, who ranks third in the SoCon in scoring avaering 17.4 points per game, has registered eight games of 20 points or more. That ranks second in the SoCon (behind ETSU's T.J. Cromer) and just two behind likely All-American Malik Monk (Kentucky).

Stop Me if You've Heard This Before...
But Mercer is facing the Southern Conference's first place team in its next game. And the Bears are doing so for the third time in the last four games and the fourth time in the last six games. When Coach Hoffman said before teh season that this year's slate might be Mercer's toughest yet, he was directly referring to the non-conference schedule (see below for more) but little did he know he was likely talking about the team's SoCon schedule as well.

The only break in that schedule three out of four stretch was on Wednesday, Jan. 11 when the Bears had a break in the schedule by only playing a team ranked second in the league.

Mercer's Recent Schedule

Date	Opponent	Opp. Rank in SoCon
Jan. 2	at Furman	T-1st
Jan. 5	VMI	T-8th
Jan. 7	ETSU	T-1st
Jan. 11	at Samford	T-2nd
Jan. 14	Chattanooga	T-1st
Jan. 19	at UNCG	T-1st

More Than Just First Place Opponents
But this grueling stretch for Mercer extends beyond just facing the first place team. When the Bears play at UNCG on Thursday it will mark the third time in four games that Mercer will face a team ranked in the top 25 of the College Insider's Mid-Major Poll. The Spartans entered the rankings this week at No. 23 while Mercer has recently faced ETSU (12th) and Chattanooga (7th).

Esleeck Headed Home
Thursday's game at UNCG will be a homecoming of sorts for Mercer associate head coach Doug Esleeck. The High Point native attended North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and spent a season in Greensboro as the Spartans' Director of Basketball Operations (2005-06).

A Trio of Mercer Tar Heels
But Doug Esleeck isn't the only one headed home as there are three Mercer players that hail from the Tar Heel State. Redshirt sophomore guard Ryan Johnson hails from Greensboro, specifically. A product of New Hope Christian Academy that is in his first year at Mercer, Johnson is making his first trip home while wearing the Orange and Black. He will be joined by two other North Carolina natives on the Mercer roster, Ria'n Holland (Fayetteville) and Jaylen Stowe (Harrisburg).

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 67th in the nation. Bears opponents have accumulated a record of 147-113 so far this season, a .565 winning clip.

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

Howard Hits the Three!
Congratulations are in order for Mercer Director of Basketball Operations Jonathan Howard and his wife, Mandie, on the birth of their third child Thursday. Audra Grace was born on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 12, weighing 7 pounds and 2 ounces. All are doing fine, especially big sister, Lauren, and big brother, Brady.

There is no confirmation that Susie Gardner has already offered Audra Grace a scholarship.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Ria'n Holland

Stephon Jelks

Ryan Johnson

Phillip Leonard

Demetre Rivers

Jaylen Stowe

Jordan Strawberry

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