Thursday, January 5
Macon, Ga.
7:30 PM ET
Mercer University
7-9, 1-2SoCon
68
vs
50
VMI
3-10, 0-2SoCon
1
2
F
VMI
27
23
50
Mercer
37
31
68
Team Stats
VMI
MER
FG%
.333
.467
3FG%
.154
.179
FT%
.588
.700
RB
27
44
TO
9
9
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Balanced Mercer defeats VMI 68-50
1/5/2017 10:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – Demetre Rivers scored 11 points and Ria'n Holland 10 as Mercer dominated inside to defeat VMI 68-50 on Thursday night in Southern Conference play.
Desmond Ringer chipped in nine points while Stephon Jelks and Ryan Johnson added eight each in the balanced attack by Mercer (7-9, 1-2), picking up its first Southern Conference win. Ten players scored for Mercer, which made 28 of 60 field-goal attempts for 47 percent and never trailed.
The Bears outrebounded VMI 44-27, outscored the Keydets 34-24 on points in the paint and 15-8 on points off turnovers.
QJ Peterson scored 18 points to lead the Keydets (3-10, 0-2), his 13th game scoring in double figures. Trey Chapman added 12 points with nine rebounds.
A layup by Jelks sparked an 11-2 run early in the first half that put the Bears ahead 17-6 with 9:21 remaining before the break. Mercer added a 17-0 run after halftime as VMI was scoreless for more than six minutes.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Desmond Ringer gets the nod after he tallied nine points and eight rebounds in only 24 minutes played. The redshirt junior shot 50 percent from the field and was 3-for-4 from the free throw line and was also credited with two steals and one blocked shot.
STAT OF THE GAME
Eight-to-one. That was the assist-to-turnover ratio for Rashad Lewis in his first career start, playing 30 minutes in place of Jordan Strawberry (funeral). Lewis also swiped three steals and added two rebounds to go with his career-high assists mark in the game.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS:
"Any win is good. I thought our guys were really excited about playing. With Jordan [Strawberry] being gone with a death in the family, we knew we were going to have to be ready to play a little different and guys were going to have to play a little out of position. I was excited how we passed the ball, how we rebounded the ball and how we got those points in the paint that I knew would be critical. Anytime you play VMI or The Citadel, even though they have different styles, points in the paint are going to be huge to try and win those games and I thought that was the difference in the game."
On bench scoring:
"We knew we were going to try to play a lot of folks and I thought we were a little tired coming into this game, playing Saturday and Monday then Thursday the week before. We went really hard this week; we didn't take a day off. We were trying to work on a couple things and we knew with Jordan [Strawberry] being gone – he has been playing so well – that he was going to be missed."
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.
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Desmond Ringer chipped in nine points while Stephon Jelks and Ryan Johnson added eight each in the balanced attack by Mercer (7-9, 1-2), picking up its first Southern Conference win. Ten players scored for Mercer, which made 28 of 60 field-goal attempts for 47 percent and never trailed.
The Bears outrebounded VMI 44-27, outscored the Keydets 34-24 on points in the paint and 15-8 on points off turnovers.
QJ Peterson scored 18 points to lead the Keydets (3-10, 0-2), his 13th game scoring in double figures. Trey Chapman added 12 points with nine rebounds.
A layup by Jelks sparked an 11-2 run early in the first half that put the Bears ahead 17-6 with 9:21 remaining before the break. Mercer added a 17-0 run after halftime as VMI was scoreless for more than six minutes.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Desmond Ringer gets the nod after he tallied nine points and eight rebounds in only 24 minutes played. The redshirt junior shot 50 percent from the field and was 3-for-4 from the free throw line and was also credited with two steals and one blocked shot.
STAT OF THE GAME
Eight-to-one. That was the assist-to-turnover ratio for Rashad Lewis in his first career start, playing 30 minutes in place of Jordan Strawberry (funeral). Lewis also swiped three steals and added two rebounds to go with his career-high assists mark in the game.
COACH HOFFMAN'S COMMENTS:
"Any win is good. I thought our guys were really excited about playing. With Jordan [Strawberry] being gone with a death in the family, we knew we were going to have to be ready to play a little different and guys were going to have to play a little out of position. I was excited how we passed the ball, how we rebounded the ball and how we got those points in the paint that I knew would be critical. Anytime you play VMI or The Citadel, even though they have different styles, points in the paint are going to be huge to try and win those games and I thought that was the difference in the game."
On bench scoring:
"We knew we were going to try to play a lot of folks and I thought we were a little tired coming into this game, playing Saturday and Monday then Thursday the week before. We went really hard this week; we didn't take a day off. We were trying to work on a couple things and we knew with Jordan [Strawberry] being gone – he has been playing so well – that he was going to be missed."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 7-9 (1-2 SoCon)
- VMI: 3-10 (0-2 SoCon)
- Mercer: hosts ETSU on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
- VMI: at The Citadel on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
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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