Mercer Returns to Hawkins Arena to Host Florida A&M Saturday

MACON, Ga. – After nearly two weeks away from Hawkins Arena, the Bears will return to play host to the Florida A&M Rattlers this Saturday, Dec. 9. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Date: Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017 | 4 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (5-4) vs. Florida A&M (1-9)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
TV: ESPN3
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Radio: 97.3 FM, 103.3 FM, iHeart Radio and Sports Mic – Rick Cameron
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Series tied at 1-1
• In Tallahassee: Florida A&M leads 1-0
• In Macon: Mercer leads 1-0
• Neutral Sites: N/A
• Current Streak: L1
• Last Meeting: L, 87-100 at Florida A&M (2/25/1985)

BEAR NECESSITIES
Star Wars Day
Saturday will serve as Star Wars Day for the Bears. The promotions for tomorrow's event includes:
-Free admission for any children dressed up in Star Wars apparel
-Free movie tickets to "The Last Jedi" will be given to the first 50 fans dressed up.
-Free glow sticks for first 1,500 fans
-T-shirts for the first 250 Mercer students
-Student raffle drawing for Battlefront II
-In-game promos for free movie tickets
-Star Wars trivia

About The Rattlers
Florida A&M is 1-9 on the season. However, the Rattlers have played a tough non-conference schedule with road games at UNLV, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi State, Texas and Murray State … Florida A&M competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference … Veteran coach Robert McCullum is in his 1^st season with the Rattlers. Most recently, McMullum was an assistant at Oregon where he helped lead the Ducks to the NCAA Final Four last year. McMullum has also been the head coach at Western Michigan and South Florida … Florida A&M features three players scoring in double figures, led by Marcus Barham's 15.3 per game average.

Series History
Saturday's game will be the third meeting between Mercer and Florida A&M. The series is tied at 1-1. Mercer defeated Florida A&M 83-72 on Jan. 30, 1984 in Macon. The Rattlers were 100-87 winners the following season on Feb. 25, 1985 in Tallahassee.

What's Next
Following Saturday's game, the Bears take a few days off for final exams before a pair of road games at La Salle (Dec. 17) and vs. nationally ranked Alabama (Dec. 19) in Huntsville, Ala.

Mercer Ranked No. 21 In This Week's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll
Mercer is ranked No. 21 in the latest edition of the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll released Dec. 4.

The Bears, currently 5-4 on the season, are coming off a challenging two-game road swing through the state of Tennessee, where they faced Tennessee and Memphis. Mercer took Memphis to double overtime last Saturday evening before dropping a hard-fought 83-81 decision to the Tigers. Mercer returns to action this Saturday, Dec. 9 when the Bears host Florida A&M. Tipoff time is 4 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.

Mercer continues to be the highest ranked Southern Conference team in this week's poll. SoCon rival Furman (5-3) is ranked No. 23.

For the fourth straight week Gonzaga (7-1), who finished runner-up to NCAA Champion North Carolina in last year's national tournament, is ranked first in this week's poll, accumulating all 31 of the first place votes. UT Arlington (7-1) is ranked 2^nd; Saint Mary's (6-2) is ranked 3^rd; Vermont (6-2) is ranked 4^th; and Valparaiso (8-0) is 5^th.

The Collegeinsider.com poll consists of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, and Western Athletic.

Bears Held in High Regard
Mercer has been tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference men's championship by the league's head coaches. The Bears were narrow favorites to claim the SoCon crown, tallying four first-place votes and 71 total points with Samford a close runner-up, earning three first-place votes and 70 total points.

Bears Rank High in Southern Conference Team Statistics
Here's a look at where the Bears' rank near the top of this week's SoCon men's basketball statistics:

Team Statistics

1^st in assist/turnover ratio (1.3)
1^st in rebounding defense (30.3)
2^nd in scoring offense (79.7)
2^nd in scoring defense (66.1)
2^nd in scoring margin (+13.6)
2^nd in field goal% (47.3%)
2^nd in field goal% defense (41.0%)
2^nd in 3-pt. field goal% (42.6%) - 11^th in NCAA
2^nd in rebounding margin (+4.7)
2^nd in assists (16.2)

Individual Statistics (player must appear in at least 75% of team's games)

Stephon Jelks – 1^st in 3-pt. field goal% (59.1%)
Stephon Jelks – 3^rd in defensive rebounds (5.6)
Jordan Strawberry – 2^nd in assists (4.3)
Jordan Strawberry – 2^nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.4)
Ethan Stair – 3^rd in field goal% (60.0%)
Demetre Rivers – 5^th in free throw% (87.5%)

Holland Continues Hot Start
Despite being sidelined with an injury the past three games, senior guard Ria'n Holland is off to a fast start for the Bears. In the six games that he has played, he leads the team in scoring (20.2) and free throw shooting (28-29 for 96%). Holland was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for his performance in the team's opening two games. He went for 31 points in the 88-79 loss at Central Florida and then came back with a 16-point effort in the victory over Toccoa Falls. That 31-point effort vs. UCF was the second-highest output in his Mercer career. The 6-0 product of Fayetteville, N.C., scored a career-best 32 points last season vs. The Citadel. Holland was named to the Paradise Jam All-Tournament team as he averaged 18.3 points during the three-game stretch, including a 29-point effort in the victory over Drexel. Holland has scored in double figures in 33 of the 38 career games he has played at Mercer.

This and That
With Holland sidelined for the past three games, several other Bears have risen up to make significant contributions. Ethan Stair has stepped into the starting role for Holland and has played well, averaging 13 points per game over the past three outings. The 6-5 sophomore has upped his scoring average to 8.9 points per game and he is shooting a red-hot 60% from the field, which ranks 3^rd best in the Southern Conference … Jordan Strawberry has emerged as one of the premier all-around performers in the SoCon. The 6-1 sophomore ranks 2^nd in the SoCon in assists per game (4.3) and 2^nd in assist/turnover ratio (2.4). Strawberry is also the team's 2^nd leading rebounder (4.2) and leads the team with 16 steals. He calmly sank two free throws with 1.2 seconds left in the first overtime vs. Memphis to force another extra period … Stephon Jelks has stepped up to play a key role in the Bears' starting rotation. The 6-6 senior leads the club in rebounding (6.8) and is 1^st in the SoCon in three-point shooting percentage (59.1%). Jelks topped Mercer with 17 points in the double overtime loss at Memphis last Saturday … Demetre Rivers continues to be a consistent scorer for the Bears. The 6-8 senior is 3^rd on the club in scoring (9.4) and is shooting a sizzling 87.5% from the charity stripe … Desmond Ringer is averaging 7.0 points per game and is hitting 80.8% of his free throw attempts … Freshman Marcus Cohen has received some quality playing time of late. The 6-4 guard scored a career-high 10 points vs. Hiwassee and is averaging 16.2 minutes per contest … Cory Kilby has also given the Bears a lift off the bench. The 6-7 junior notched a career-best 14 points in the victory over Hiwassee and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the loss at Tennessee … Mercer continues to excel with its three-point marksmanship. The Bears are 2^nd in the SoCon in three-point shooting % (42.6%), which ranks 11^th in the NCAA.

Senior Leadership
Six seniors return from last year's team. Those senior leaders include: Desmond Ringer, Jordan Strawberry, Ria'n Holland, Demetre Rivers, Rashad Lewis, and Stephon Jelks. Holland is the team's leading returning scorer at 17.2 points per game; Jelks paced the club with 6.7 rebounds per outing; while Strawberry dished out a team-best 4.3 assists per contest.

Speaking of Seniors
Mercer is one of only two teams in the nation to start five seniors this season, with Texas Tech being the other. The Bears are currently 5-4 on the year and rated No. 21 in this week's edition of the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major poll, while the Red Raiders of the Big 12 Conference sport a 7-1 record and have been ranked in the top 25 for much of the early season.

Returning Firepower
Mercer returns all five starters from last season's club. Those five starters – Ria'n Holland, Jordan Strawberry, Demetre Rivers, Desmond Ringer, and Stephon Jelks – combined to score a total of 1,744 of the team's 2,269 points on the season. That translates to nearly 77% of the Bears' offensive output from last year. In total, nine players are back from the 2016-17 team.

Preseason Watch List
Holland was named to the 2017-18 Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List, as announced by CollegeInsider.com earlier this month. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the nation's top NCAA Division I mid-major player. Holland is one of 51 mid-major players included on the preseason watch list. The award is named after Lou Henson, who coached college basketball for 41 years and was sixth all-time in career Division I wins (779) when he left the game in 2005. Holland is one of four players from SoCon teams included on the watch list. Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro-Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt and West Coast. The winner of the 2017-18 Lou Henson Award will be announced on March 31, 2018 at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Event in San Antonio, Texas, the site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.

Holland was also named to the preseason All-Southern Conference team as selected by the league's coaches prior to the start of this year.

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.

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Mercer Returns to Hawkins Arena to Host Florida A&M Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Cohen

Stephon Jelks

Cory Kilby

Rashad Lewis

Desmond Ringer

Demetre Rivers

Ethan Stair

Jordan Strawberry

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Mercer University Athletics

Mercer Returns to Hawkins Arena to Host Florida A&M Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marcus Cohen

Stephon Jelks

Cory Kilby

Rashad Lewis

Desmond Ringer

Demetre Rivers

Ethan Stair

Jordan Strawberry

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