Monday, January 30
Macon, Ga.
7:00 PM ET
Mercer University
11-12, 5-5SoCon
62
vs
47
Western Carolina
7-16, 2-8SoCon
1
2
F
Western Carolina
22
25
47
Mercer
23
39
62
Team Stats
WCU
MER
FG%
.333
.489
3FG%
.190
.267
FT%
.818
.750
RB
27
33
TO
10
11
STL
5
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballMercer Beats WCU for Third Straight Win
1/30/2017 9:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – Desmond Ringer and Ria'n Holland each finished with 16 points and Mercer won its third straight to reach the .500 mark in Southern Conference play with a 62-47 win over Western Carolina on Monday night.
Mercer now sits at 5-5 in league play after a 2-5 start.
Jordan Strawberry added nine points and four assists for the Bears (11-12, 5-5), who shot 48.9 percent and won the rebounding battle by six (33-27).
Adam Sledd was the only Catamount to finish in double-figures, scoring 10 points. Western Carolina (7-16, 2-8) shot just 33.3 percent overall and 19 percent from deep. It is the sixth time the Catamounts have been held below 50 points this season.
Mercer led 23-22 at halftime, but opened the second on a 19-4 stretch to take a 42-27 lead. A Strawberry 3-pointer with 9:01 left extended the lead beyond 20 and the Bears cruised down the stretch.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Desmond Ringer scored 16 points, matching Ria'n Holland's game-high totals, but it was his percentage from the floor that gets the McDonough native the nod here as Ringer was 7 of 8 from the field. His 16 points marked the second highest he has scored in a game this season and the most he has scored in a SoCon contest this year. Ringer added three rebounds to his finaly tally.
STAT OF THE GAME
Forty seven. Not only are the 47 points Western Carolina scored Monday night the fewest a Catamount team has ever scored on Mercer but it ties for the fewest number of points Mercer has allowed to a Division I team this season (Radford, Nov. 22). Mercer's stifling defense held WCU to only 22 points at halftime and 47 points overall on 33.3 percent shooting from the field and only 19 percent (4-for-21) from downtown.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS
"The second half we were really good. The first half was good but I thought we were even better in the second half when we got some separation. We had a little more bounce and had multiple guys give us energy and some pop off the bench, which I am thrilled about. We had eight guys with 10 or more minutes tonight so that was special. One thing I was really worried about was at halftime we didn't have any offense rebounds. I felt like to win the game against these guys you have to out-rebound them because they lead the league in offensive rebounds. So I challenged our guys and, sure enough, we came out and won the battle. We had six offensive rebounds in the second half and I thought that really was the difference in the game, beyond the passes in the post which were terrific by Jordan [Strawberry] and Rashad [Lewis]."
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.
Mercer now sits at 5-5 in league play after a 2-5 start.
Jordan Strawberry added nine points and four assists for the Bears (11-12, 5-5), who shot 48.9 percent and won the rebounding battle by six (33-27).
Adam Sledd was the only Catamount to finish in double-figures, scoring 10 points. Western Carolina (7-16, 2-8) shot just 33.3 percent overall and 19 percent from deep. It is the sixth time the Catamounts have been held below 50 points this season.
Mercer led 23-22 at halftime, but opened the second on a 19-4 stretch to take a 42-27 lead. A Strawberry 3-pointer with 9:01 left extended the lead beyond 20 and the Bears cruised down the stretch.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Desmond Ringer scored 16 points, matching Ria'n Holland's game-high totals, but it was his percentage from the floor that gets the McDonough native the nod here as Ringer was 7 of 8 from the field. His 16 points marked the second highest he has scored in a game this season and the most he has scored in a SoCon contest this year. Ringer added three rebounds to his finaly tally.
STAT OF THE GAME
Forty seven. Not only are the 47 points Western Carolina scored Monday night the fewest a Catamount team has ever scored on Mercer but it ties for the fewest number of points Mercer has allowed to a Division I team this season (Radford, Nov. 22). Mercer's stifling defense held WCU to only 22 points at halftime and 47 points overall on 33.3 percent shooting from the field and only 19 percent (4-for-21) from downtown.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS
"The second half we were really good. The first half was good but I thought we were even better in the second half when we got some separation. We had a little more bounce and had multiple guys give us energy and some pop off the bench, which I am thrilled about. We had eight guys with 10 or more minutes tonight so that was special. One thing I was really worried about was at halftime we didn't have any offense rebounds. I felt like to win the game against these guys you have to out-rebound them because they lead the league in offensive rebounds. So I challenged our guys and, sure enough, we came out and won the battle. We had six offensive rebounds in the second half and I thought that really was the difference in the game, beyond the passes in the post which were terrific by Jordan [Strawberry] and Rashad [Lewis]."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 11-12 (5-5 SoCon)
- Western Carolina: 7-16 (2-8 SoCon)
- Mercer: hosts first-place Furman on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
- Western Carolina: at Samford on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
- Mercer cuts Western Carolina's lead in the all-time series to 7-6. The Bears have now won two consecutive games in the series.
- The win marked Mercer's first victory over Western Carolina in Macon.
- The 47 points allowed marked the fewest number of points a WCU team has ever scored on Mercer.
- Monday's game marked the 300th game Bob Hoffman has coached at Mercer.
- The win marked Bob Hoffman's 175th win at Mercer.
- Mercer has now tied its season-long win streak at three consecutive wins.
- Cory Kilby swiped a career-high two steals.
- The 16 points scored by Desmond Ringer marks the second-most he has posted in a game this season. It marked the first time he has led the team in scoring in a game this year.
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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