Friday, November 10
Orlando, Fla.
8 p.m.
Mercer University
0-1
79
at
88
UCF
1-0
1
2
F
Mercer
47
32
79
UCF
46
42
88
Team Stats
MER
UCF
FG%
.411
.536
3FG%
.414
.294
FT%
.750
.622
RB
28
39
TO
14
14
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
31
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
11
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Mercer Drops Hard-Fought 88-79 Decision To Central Florida
11/10/2017 11:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ORLANDO, Fla. –The Mercer Bears were unable to fight off a strong second half performance from Central Florida and dropped their season opener 88-79 on the Knights' home court Friday night.
Mercer and the Knights traded baskets throughout the first half with 13 lead changes in the first period of play. The Bears came out hot, going 16 for 32 from the field (50%) and 8 for 18 (44.4%) from three point land in the first stanza. Ria'n Holland led the way for the Bears, tallying 21 points, while knocking down five three pointers. Sophomore Ethan Stair and freshman Marcus Cohen were both perfect from the field (3/3) scoring seven points apiece off the bench. Mercer entered the halftime break with a 47-46 lead over the Knights.
Following intermission, UCF came out strong with a 20-4 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half, stretching out to a 15-point lead. Mercer battled back; however the Bears only connected on 29.2 percent of their field goals in the second half and the Knights outscored the Bears 42-32 in the second stanza to post the season opening win.
Holland tallied a game-high 31 points for the Bears, hitting seven of 15 field goals, including six of 11 from three point range. Stair went 5-5 from the field and tallied 12 points coming off the bench. Senior guard Jordan Strawberry also went for 12 points for the Bears.
UCF was had four players score in the double digits, with Ceasar Dejesus and Dayon Griffin each scoring a team-high 16 points on the night.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Ria'n Holland was the player of the game for the Bears, scoring a team-high 31 points. Holland went 7 for 15 from the field, knocking down six three pointers, while tallying three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
STAT OF THE GAME
The difference in the game was the battle inside the paint. The Knights outscored the Bears 44-20 in points in the paint.
QUOTABLES
"I thought we competed like crazy; we were leading at halftime; we only had three turnovers at the break and they turned up the heat. Their length got us there for about a 10 minute spurt there; they got so many uncontested breakaway layups from deep deflections and turnovers; that was really the difference in the game. We fought back at the end, but that spurt they had at the beginning of the second half just really hurt us and we had a hard time recovering from it. Central Florida played well; they do have a good team. We have to load up and be ready for the next one. I love the fact that we fought; there were several possessions there where we got on the floor and got the loose ball when things weren't going so great. Those were big plays; momentum plays. We had a couple of shots to cut the lead to five there at the end; we weren't able to get it done but it wasn't because we weren't trying or where we weren't fighting and I like that about our team but we have to get better and we have to execute better against good teams like what we faced tonight." -Head Coach Bob Hoffman
NOTABLES
RECORDS UPDATE
The Bears will return to Macon for their home opener, this Sunday, Nov. 12, as they play host to the Toccoa Falls Screaming Eagles. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's 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 and the Knights traded baskets throughout the first half with 13 lead changes in the first period of play. The Bears came out hot, going 16 for 32 from the field (50%) and 8 for 18 (44.4%) from three point land in the first stanza. Ria'n Holland led the way for the Bears, tallying 21 points, while knocking down five three pointers. Sophomore Ethan Stair and freshman Marcus Cohen were both perfect from the field (3/3) scoring seven points apiece off the bench. Mercer entered the halftime break with a 47-46 lead over the Knights.
Following intermission, UCF came out strong with a 20-4 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half, stretching out to a 15-point lead. Mercer battled back; however the Bears only connected on 29.2 percent of their field goals in the second half and the Knights outscored the Bears 42-32 in the second stanza to post the season opening win.
Holland tallied a game-high 31 points for the Bears, hitting seven of 15 field goals, including six of 11 from three point range. Stair went 5-5 from the field and tallied 12 points coming off the bench. Senior guard Jordan Strawberry also went for 12 points for the Bears.
UCF was had four players score in the double digits, with Ceasar Dejesus and Dayon Griffin each scoring a team-high 16 points on the night.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Ria'n Holland was the player of the game for the Bears, scoring a team-high 31 points. Holland went 7 for 15 from the field, knocking down six three pointers, while tallying three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
STAT OF THE GAME
The difference in the game was the battle inside the paint. The Knights outscored the Bears 44-20 in points in the paint.
QUOTABLES
"I thought we competed like crazy; we were leading at halftime; we only had three turnovers at the break and they turned up the heat. Their length got us there for about a 10 minute spurt there; they got so many uncontested breakaway layups from deep deflections and turnovers; that was really the difference in the game. We fought back at the end, but that spurt they had at the beginning of the second half just really hurt us and we had a hard time recovering from it. Central Florida played well; they do have a good team. We have to load up and be ready for the next one. I love the fact that we fought; there were several possessions there where we got on the floor and got the loose ball when things weren't going so great. Those were big plays; momentum plays. We had a couple of shots to cut the lead to five there at the end; we weren't able to get it done but it wasn't because we weren't trying or where we weren't fighting and I like that about our team but we have to get better and we have to execute better against good teams like what we faced tonight." -Head Coach Bob Hoffman
NOTABLES
- Holland tallied a game-high 31 points, which is just one shy of his career-best 32-point effort that he turned in last year vs. The Citadel. The 6-0 guard from Fayetteville, N.C., was a perfect 11-11 from the free throw stripe against UCF.
- Stair came off the bench and hit all five of his field goals attempts, including two from beyond the three-point mark.
- The Bears shot 50% from the floor in the first half but only 29.2% in the second half.
- UCF outrebounded Mercer 39-28 on the glass.
- Strawberry paced the Bears with six rebounds. He and Marcus Cohen had a team-high four assists.
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 0-1
- UCF: 1-0
The Bears will return to Macon for their home opener, this Sunday, Nov. 12, as they play host to the Toccoa Falls Screaming Eagles. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's 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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