Sunday, December 17
Philadelphia, Penn.
4:30 p.m.
Mercer University
6-5
85
at
95
La Salle
6-6
1
2
F
Mercer
29
56
85
La Salle
49
46
95
Team Stats
MER
LAS
FG%
.475
.544
3FG%
.526
.552
FT%
.850
.708
RB
28
35
TO
10
12
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
33
FGM
10
3FGM
6
FTM
7
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Judy Stapleton
Mercer's Second Half Comeback Falls Short To Hot-Shooting La Salle 95-85
12/17/2017 7:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- Mercer's furious second half rally and Ria'n Holland's career-high 33 points weren't quite enough as a hot-shooting La Salle team defeated Mercer 95-85 Sunday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pa.
Â
La Salle jumped out to an early 49-29 first half lead that made it difficult for the Bears to overcome. La Salle shot a red shot 55.6% in the first half, including 10 of 17 three point shots to put Mercer in an early deficit. La Salle received strong play off the bench in the first stanza with Johnnie Shuler and Isiah Deas combining for 24 first half points.
Â
Trailing 66-42 at the 14:19 mark of the second half, the Bears went on a 22-8 run to claw themselves back into the game and make it a contest. They cut the lead to 74-66 at the 7:52 mark when Stephon Jelks knocked down a pair of free throws. La Salle's Pookie Wilson was an offensive standout down the stretch, tallying nine key points when it mattered to lead the Explorers to the victory.
Â
Holland, who was rated the No. 1 player in the nation in offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy's statistical rankings this past week (kenpom.com), hit 10 of 19 field goal attempts, including six of nine three point shots to lead the Bears. Holland was also a perfect seven of seven from the free throw line.
Â
Jelks tallied a season-high 22 points for the Bears, on seven of eight shooting from the field, including three of four behind the arc and a perfect five of five from the charity stripe. The Bears shot 47.5% from the field for the game, including 52.6% from three point range.
Â
La Salle was led in scoring by swingman BJ Johnson with 25 points. Powell was strong down the stretch and finished with 24 points. The Explorers hit 16 of 29 three point shots and that proved to be a big difference in the outcome of the game. La Salle also out rebounded Mercer 35-28 and shot 54.4% from the floor.
Â
Mercer is now 6-5 on the season while La Salle improves to 6-6.
Â
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Ria'n Holland was the player of the game for the Bears, dropping a career-high 33 points on the day. Holland went 10 for 19 from the field and knocked down six three pointers along the way. Holland was perfect from the free throw line (7/7). The guard also tallied four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Â
QUOTABLES
"Not how we wanted to start on a challenging two game road trip. We didn't start very well and we definitely have to start better than we did tonight. You can't give up 16 made three point shots and expect to win. They shot almost 60 percent from the three point line tonight and they were shooting 28 or 29 percent as a team coming in. We have to do a better job there. It's frustrating because I know our guys want to win and want to play well. We just haven't started as well as we need to. You can't do that against an offensive-minded team like La Salle that has played one of the toughest schedules in the country. It's not what we wanted here tonight; we're trying to get better and I have to find the secret sauce that allows our team to get better. (On Ria'n's play)Â "He's a true competitor. He's a fighter. His teammates were finding him and in the second half Steph started getting to the rim which was big. But, we have to have more than one or two guys scoring if we're going to be the team that we want to be and really what I'm more focused on now is our defense. We played a good team, but we didn't play like we needed to against a good team and expect to get it done."--Head Coach Bob Hoffman
Â
NOTABLES
RECORDS UPDATE
The Bears head south to take on nationally ranked Alabama Tuesday, Dec. 19 in Huntsville, Ala. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. (ET).
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.
###
Â
Â
La Salle jumped out to an early 49-29 first half lead that made it difficult for the Bears to overcome. La Salle shot a red shot 55.6% in the first half, including 10 of 17 three point shots to put Mercer in an early deficit. La Salle received strong play off the bench in the first stanza with Johnnie Shuler and Isiah Deas combining for 24 first half points.
Â
Trailing 66-42 at the 14:19 mark of the second half, the Bears went on a 22-8 run to claw themselves back into the game and make it a contest. They cut the lead to 74-66 at the 7:52 mark when Stephon Jelks knocked down a pair of free throws. La Salle's Pookie Wilson was an offensive standout down the stretch, tallying nine key points when it mattered to lead the Explorers to the victory.
Â
Holland, who was rated the No. 1 player in the nation in offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy's statistical rankings this past week (kenpom.com), hit 10 of 19 field goal attempts, including six of nine three point shots to lead the Bears. Holland was also a perfect seven of seven from the free throw line.
Â
Jelks tallied a season-high 22 points for the Bears, on seven of eight shooting from the field, including three of four behind the arc and a perfect five of five from the charity stripe. The Bears shot 47.5% from the field for the game, including 52.6% from three point range.
Â
La Salle was led in scoring by swingman BJ Johnson with 25 points. Powell was strong down the stretch and finished with 24 points. The Explorers hit 16 of 29 three point shots and that proved to be a big difference in the outcome of the game. La Salle also out rebounded Mercer 35-28 and shot 54.4% from the floor.
Â
Mercer is now 6-5 on the season while La Salle improves to 6-6.
Â
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Ria'n Holland was the player of the game for the Bears, dropping a career-high 33 points on the day. Holland went 10 for 19 from the field and knocked down six three pointers along the way. Holland was perfect from the free throw line (7/7). The guard also tallied four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Â
QUOTABLES
"Not how we wanted to start on a challenging two game road trip. We didn't start very well and we definitely have to start better than we did tonight. You can't give up 16 made three point shots and expect to win. They shot almost 60 percent from the three point line tonight and they were shooting 28 or 29 percent as a team coming in. We have to do a better job there. It's frustrating because I know our guys want to win and want to play well. We just haven't started as well as we need to. You can't do that against an offensive-minded team like La Salle that has played one of the toughest schedules in the country. It's not what we wanted here tonight; we're trying to get better and I have to find the secret sauce that allows our team to get better. (On Ria'n's play)Â "He's a true competitor. He's a fighter. His teammates were finding him and in the second half Steph started getting to the rim which was big. But, we have to have more than one or two guys scoring if we're going to be the team that we want to be and really what I'm more focused on now is our defense. We played a good team, but we didn't play like we needed to against a good team and expect to get it done."--Head Coach Bob Hoffman
Â
NOTABLES
- Mercer outscored the Explorers 30-24 in the paint.
- The Bears shot 47.5% from the field (29-61).
- Senior guard Ria'n Holland scored a career-high 33 points.
- Senior forward Stephon Jelks dropped a season-high 22Â points, two short of his career-high. Jelks also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
- Senior guard Jordan Strawberry dished a team-high five assists.
- Sophomore forward Ethan Stair provided a solid spark off the bench, scoring eight points over 24 minutes of play.
- Eleven different players saw action for the Bears, with eight of them getting on the scoreboard.
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 6-5
- La Salle: 6-6
The Bears head south to take on nationally ranked Alabama Tuesday, Dec. 19 in Huntsville, Ala. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. (ET).
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.
###
Â
Mercer 22, Wofford 21 | Postgame Press Conference (9/13/25)
Sunday, September 14
Mercer Football 2025 | vs. Wofford | Full Game Highlights
Sunday, September 14
Mercer Football Press Conference (Week 3 vs. Wofford)
Monday, September 08
Mercer v. South Florida Men's Soccer Highlight Reel: 9/7/2025
Monday, September 08
