Friday, November 17
Lynchburg, Va.
12 p.m.
Mercer University
3-1
63
at
48
Liberty
2-1
1
2
F
Mercer
28
35
63
Liberty
25
23
48
Team Stats
MER
LIBERTY
FG%
.458
.347
3FG%
.455
.269
FT%
.818
.875
RB
37
23
TO
11
7
STL
3
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Leah Seavers
Mercer Turns in Impressive 63-48 Triumph Over Liberty in Opening Round of Paradise Jam
11/17/2017 2:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Mercer relied on a strong rebounding effort and consistent shooting from the field to post a solid 63-48 over host Liberty in the opening round of the Paradise Jam Friday afternoon at the Vines Center.
Â
The Bears won the battle on the boards 37-23, with senior guard Jordan Strawberry corralling a career-high 13 rebounds. Mercer connected on 45.8% of its field goal attempts while holding the Flames to just 34.7% shooting.
Â
Senior guard Ria'n Holland paced the Bears' offensive attack with 13 points on four of seven from the field, including three of six behind the three point line. Holland also pulled down five rebounds. Fellow senior Demetre Rivers turned in a big second half, scoring all 10 of his points following the break. Strawberry turned in an all-around solid performance, scoring nine points and handing out seven assists to go along with his 13 rebounds. Senior Desmond Ringer chipped in with nine points, while Stephon Jelks scored eight.
Â
Mercer led most of the contest and held a 28-25 margin at intermission. The Bears outscored the Flames 35-23 in the second half, thanks in large part by a strong rebounding effort and excellent three point marksmanship (8-13). Rivers' solid second half performance was also a big difference maker in the outcome of the game.
Â
"Sometimes things don't go your way and in the first half I picked up a couple of fouls and had some turnovers," said Rivers. "A big part that helped turn that around was my teammates helped me keep my head in the game; they told me to keep playing and things would come around. My teammates were helping create shots for me and some of them started falling. This was definitely a good win today. They (Liberty) have a good team; I felt our coaches prepared us well for things that they were going to throw at us. We just need to take this win and move on to the next one."
Â
Liberty was led in scoring by Lovell Cabbil, who dropped 15 points for the Flames, their only player to score in the double figures. The Flames were coming off a big 79-66 victory at Wake Forest earlier in the week.
Â
Mercer improves to 3-1 on the season while Liberty falls to 2-1. Mercer advances in the Paradise Jam winner's bracket and will now face the winner of the Drexel-Houston game Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Vines Center.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Jordan Strawberry was the player of the game for the Bears. Strawberry flirted with a double-double scoring nine points and grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds. Strawberry also dished seven assists on the day.
STAT OF THE GAME
The biggest factor of the game was the Bears ability to dominate both the boards and points in the paint. Mercer outrebounded Liberty 37-23, in addition to outscoring the Flames 24-16 inside the paint.
Â
QUOTABLES
"It's great to get a win on the road against a quality team with a great coach. They know how to play. We were fortunate today that they missed some shots and we had some that went down; that was really the difference in the game. I'm really happy for our guys. They had a great week of practice and this was a good way to start. We've got a bunch of different guys that can rebound the basketball. Jordan (Strawberry) was amazing today; we told him now what that means is that we're going to be expecting more rebounds. We were blocking out well and he was able to get in there and get some boards. There was one big offensive rebound tip that Ria'n Holland got when it was about a five or six point game and we made the shot. We need to take care of our bodies now; with us winning we get a little bit extra rest and I think that will be good. This is like the end of the season. You want to try to win three games in three days. You don't get the chance to do that any other time of the year. We've been blessed to be pretty good in these kind of situations and today our guys were tough minded; we made shots and made plays and got the W." – Head Coach Bob Hoffman
Â
NOTABLES
RECORDS UPDATE
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.
###
Â
Â
The Bears won the battle on the boards 37-23, with senior guard Jordan Strawberry corralling a career-high 13 rebounds. Mercer connected on 45.8% of its field goal attempts while holding the Flames to just 34.7% shooting.
Â
Senior guard Ria'n Holland paced the Bears' offensive attack with 13 points on four of seven from the field, including three of six behind the three point line. Holland also pulled down five rebounds. Fellow senior Demetre Rivers turned in a big second half, scoring all 10 of his points following the break. Strawberry turned in an all-around solid performance, scoring nine points and handing out seven assists to go along with his 13 rebounds. Senior Desmond Ringer chipped in with nine points, while Stephon Jelks scored eight.
Â
Mercer led most of the contest and held a 28-25 margin at intermission. The Bears outscored the Flames 35-23 in the second half, thanks in large part by a strong rebounding effort and excellent three point marksmanship (8-13). Rivers' solid second half performance was also a big difference maker in the outcome of the game.
Â
"Sometimes things don't go your way and in the first half I picked up a couple of fouls and had some turnovers," said Rivers. "A big part that helped turn that around was my teammates helped me keep my head in the game; they told me to keep playing and things would come around. My teammates were helping create shots for me and some of them started falling. This was definitely a good win today. They (Liberty) have a good team; I felt our coaches prepared us well for things that they were going to throw at us. We just need to take this win and move on to the next one."
Â
Liberty was led in scoring by Lovell Cabbil, who dropped 15 points for the Flames, their only player to score in the double figures. The Flames were coming off a big 79-66 victory at Wake Forest earlier in the week.
Â
Mercer improves to 3-1 on the season while Liberty falls to 2-1. Mercer advances in the Paradise Jam winner's bracket and will now face the winner of the Drexel-Houston game Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Vines Center.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Jordan Strawberry was the player of the game for the Bears. Strawberry flirted with a double-double scoring nine points and grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds. Strawberry also dished seven assists on the day.
STAT OF THE GAME
The biggest factor of the game was the Bears ability to dominate both the boards and points in the paint. Mercer outrebounded Liberty 37-23, in addition to outscoring the Flames 24-16 inside the paint.
Â
QUOTABLES
"It's great to get a win on the road against a quality team with a great coach. They know how to play. We were fortunate today that they missed some shots and we had some that went down; that was really the difference in the game. I'm really happy for our guys. They had a great week of practice and this was a good way to start. We've got a bunch of different guys that can rebound the basketball. Jordan (Strawberry) was amazing today; we told him now what that means is that we're going to be expecting more rebounds. We were blocking out well and he was able to get in there and get some boards. There was one big offensive rebound tip that Ria'n Holland got when it was about a five or six point game and we made the shot. We need to take care of our bodies now; with us winning we get a little bit extra rest and I think that will be good. This is like the end of the season. You want to try to win three games in three days. You don't get the chance to do that any other time of the year. We've been blessed to be pretty good in these kind of situations and today our guys were tough minded; we made shots and made plays and got the W." – Head Coach Bob Hoffman
Â
NOTABLES
- Jordan Strawberry earned a career-high 13 rebounds on the day.
- Mercer outrebounded Liberty 37-23 on the glass.
- Ria'n Holland led the squad in total points, tallying 13 on the day, as well as recording five rebounds and five assists.
- Mercer shot an impressive 45.8% on the day, including 81.8% from the free throw stripe.
- Mercer won the battle inside the paint, outscoring Liberty 24-16 between the blocks.
- Nine separate players got on the scoreboard for the Bears.
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 3-1
- Liberty: 2-1
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.
###
Â
Mercer v U.T. Martin VB Highlight Reel: 9/20/2025
Saturday, September 20
Mercer v North Dakota VB Highlight Reel: 9/19/2025
Saturday, September 20
Mercer v West Georgia VB Highlight Reel: 9/18/2025
Friday, September 19
Mercer Football Press Conference (Week 4 vs Citadel)
Tuesday, September 16
