Saturday, January 28
Macon, Ga.
4:30 PM ET
Mercer University
10-12, 4-5SoCon
82
vs
66
The Citadel
9-14, 2-8SoCon
1
2
F
The Citadel
30
36
66
Mercer
33
49
82
Team Stats
CIT
MER
FG%
.343
.509
3FG%
.297
.368
FT%
.692
.778
RB
32
44
TO
10
13
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballPhoto by: Judy Stapleton
Mercer Stifles The Citadel, 82-66
1/28/2017 6:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – Demetre Rivers had 23 points to lead Mercer to its 12th straight victory over The Citadel as the Bears pulled away in the second half for an 82-66 win on Saturday.
Stephon Jelks had a season-best 14 rebounds while dishing out a career-high eight assists for Mercer (10-12, 4-5 Southern Conference). Mercer's defense held the nation's highest-scoring offense to its fewest points in a league game this year as the Bulldogs scored almost 30 points less than their per game average this season.
Rivers hit 7 of 10 from the floor. Ria'n Holland added 17 points and Jordan Strawberry hit 3 of 4 from distance to total 15 points for Mercer.
The Citadel (9-14, 2-8) jumped out to an early lead but Mercer led 33-30 at the break. The Bulldogs' Quayson Williams drilled a 3 to tie at 41 with 15:31 left in the game. Ryan Johnson answered with a jumper and Holland nailed a trey as Mercer pulled away to lead 63-50 following a Strawberry 3-point jumper with 8:01 left.
Ezekiel Balogun led The Citadel with 16 points.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
We have to have co-players of the game today. A tip of the hat first to Demetre Rivers as he scored 23 points in a 7-for-10 performance from the field while shooting 8 of 9 from the charity stripe. Rivers also brought down five rebounds and was credited with a steal. The other tip of the hat goes to Stephon Jelks, who swarmed all over the court with a season high 14 rebounds and career-best eight assists. Jelks also added a block, a steal and five points to his final stat line.
STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer's stingy defense held The Citadel to a meager 66 points – almost 30 less than what the Bulldogs average per game – in Saturday's contest. That marks the fewest amount of points The Citadel has scored in their 10 SoCon games this season and the second fewest number of points the Cadets have scored in a game all season behind a 130-63 loss at No. 20 Iowa State on Nov. 20, 2016.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS
"Any win is great and we are thankful and grateful for it. Coach Esleeck did a great job on the defensive game plan, holding those guys to their lowest output of the conference season and second of the year for them. They are special, they know what they are doing and Coach Baucom is as good as there is. Their stretching the floor and making you guard them different ways – our zone helped us so we could stay home a little more and switch off. I'm just excited how our guys fought together, stayed together and made a big run at the end to get the W.
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.
Stephon Jelks had a season-best 14 rebounds while dishing out a career-high eight assists for Mercer (10-12, 4-5 Southern Conference). Mercer's defense held the nation's highest-scoring offense to its fewest points in a league game this year as the Bulldogs scored almost 30 points less than their per game average this season.
Rivers hit 7 of 10 from the floor. Ria'n Holland added 17 points and Jordan Strawberry hit 3 of 4 from distance to total 15 points for Mercer.
The Citadel (9-14, 2-8) jumped out to an early lead but Mercer led 33-30 at the break. The Bulldogs' Quayson Williams drilled a 3 to tie at 41 with 15:31 left in the game. Ryan Johnson answered with a jumper and Holland nailed a trey as Mercer pulled away to lead 63-50 following a Strawberry 3-point jumper with 8:01 left.
Ezekiel Balogun led The Citadel with 16 points.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
We have to have co-players of the game today. A tip of the hat first to Demetre Rivers as he scored 23 points in a 7-for-10 performance from the field while shooting 8 of 9 from the charity stripe. Rivers also brought down five rebounds and was credited with a steal. The other tip of the hat goes to Stephon Jelks, who swarmed all over the court with a season high 14 rebounds and career-best eight assists. Jelks also added a block, a steal and five points to his final stat line.
STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer's stingy defense held The Citadel to a meager 66 points – almost 30 less than what the Bulldogs average per game – in Saturday's contest. That marks the fewest amount of points The Citadel has scored in their 10 SoCon games this season and the second fewest number of points the Cadets have scored in a game all season behind a 130-63 loss at No. 20 Iowa State on Nov. 20, 2016.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS
"Any win is great and we are thankful and grateful for it. Coach Esleeck did a great job on the defensive game plan, holding those guys to their lowest output of the conference season and second of the year for them. They are special, they know what they are doing and Coach Baucom is as good as there is. Their stretching the floor and making you guard them different ways – our zone helped us so we could stay home a little more and switch off. I'm just excited how our guys fought together, stayed together and made a big run at the end to get the W.
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 10-12 (4-5 SoCon)
- The Citadel: 9-14 (2-8 SoCon)
- Mercer: hosts Western Carolina on Monday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
- The Citadel: hosts Wofford on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
- Mercer leads the all-time series over The Citadel, 14-4, and has now won 12 consecutive games over the Bulldogs.
- Stephon Jelks brought down a season-high 14 rebounds.
- Jelks also posted a career-best eight assists.
- Demetre Rivers led all scorers with 23 points, the second time he has posted over 20 points in a game this season.
- Mercer's defense limited The Citadel to only 66 points after the Bulldog entered the game averaging 94.5 points per game. It marked the fewest points scored for The Citadel in a Southern Conference game this season.
- Jaylen Stowe registered a career-high six rebounds.
- The Citadel has held without scoring a point for a 5:15 stretch in the first half. Mercer has now held eight schools to a five minute stretch or greater without a field goal.
- The win marked Mercer's 80th win at Hawkins Arena since the start of the 2011-12 season.
- After starting the year 0-5 on Saturdays, Mercer has now won its last two Saturday contests.
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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