Mercer Hopes to Slow Down Red-Hot ETSU Saturday

Saturday, January 7

Macon, Ga.

4:30 PM ET

Mercer University

ETSU

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Mercer Hopes to Slow Down Red-Hot ETSU Saturday

1/6/2017 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Patrick T. Walsh

MACON, Ga. – Set for its second home game in three days, Mercer is hoping to give a red-hot ETSU team a reception chillier than the weather when the Bears and the Bucs tipoff Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.

GAMEDAY DETAILS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 7 | 4:30 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (7-9, 1-2 SoCon) vs. ETSU (12-3, 2-0 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,500)
TV: ESPN3 | Watch ESPN
TV Talent: Todd Wilson (play-by-play), Dean Keener (analyst), Megan Trammell (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 | ETSU

Series History
East Tennessee State has a 16-8 advantage but until last year the series had trended towards the Bears. Despite a three-game sweep at the hands of the Bucs last year (including a loss in the SoCon Tournament), Mercer has still won six of the last 10 meetings. ETSU has a slight lead in the series in games played in Macon with a 6-5 advantage.

Scouting ETSU
The Bucs enter Saturday's game with a 12-3 mark on the year and have won three straight since falling against Tennessee in a game decided by one possession. ETSU has several notable wins on its resume this year including Wisconsin-Milwaukee (86-62) and at Mississippi State (67-65) and has scored over 100 points in each of its two SoCon wins this year.

Last Time Out
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.

Last Meeting vs. ETSU
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Ge'Lawn Guyn had 16 of his 23 points in the second half and second-seeded East Tennessee State beat No. 7 seed Mercer 81-65 on Saturday night to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament.

T.J Cromer added 17 points and Deuce Bello had 10 for ETSU (22-10), which stretched its lead to 72-56 with 4:02 left after Guyn and Petey McClain's back-to-back 3-pointers. Mercer (19-14) got no closer than within 13 from there.

The Buccaneers had a two-point lead at halftime and pulled away to a 52-43 lead early in the second with an 8-0 run powered by Cromer's back-to-back 3-pointers.
Phillip Leonard had 22 points, Demetre Rivers scored 11 and Ethan Stair 10 for the Bears. Mercer led for a 7:30 stretch in the first half and closed within 44-43 early in the second.

Win No. 80? Quite the Homecourt Advantage
A win for the Bears on Saturday against ETSU 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.

Get to .500
A win for the Bears on Saturday against ETSU would avoid a 1-3 start for Mercer in conference play, something that hasn't happened since joining the Southern Conference and has only happened once in Bob Hoffman's tenure (2010-11).

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.