Mercer Hosts Furman Thursday Night

MACON, Ga. – Mercer continues a four-game homestand Thursday night at Hawkins Arena as the Southern Conference-leading Paladins of Furman visit with a 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3.

GAMEDAY DETAILS
Date: Thursday, Feb. 2 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (11-12, 5-5 SoCon) vs. Furman (14-8, 7-2 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,500)
TV: ESPN3 | Watch ESPN
TV Talent: Todd Wilson (play-by-play), Dean Keeener (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 | Furman

Series History
After Furman edged the Bears in Greenville earlier this season, the Paladins edged ahead of Mercer in the al-time series by one game. Today, the Bears look to bring the series even again and history is on their side as Mercer is 7-2 all-time against Furman at home.

Scouting Furman
Enter a ranked Paladin squad. Furman entered the Mid-Major Top 25 rankings this week, vaulting up from just receiving votes to No. 20 following the Paladins win over UNCG last week. Devin Sibley leads Furman with an average of 17.2 points per game.

Last Time Out
Desmond Ringer and Ria'n Holland each finished with 16 points and Mercer won its third straight to reach the .500 mark in Southern Conference play with a 62-47 win over Western Carolina on Monday night.

Mercer now sits at 5-5 in league play after a 2-5 start. Jordan Strawberry added nine points and four assists for the Bears (11-12, 5-5), who shot 48.9 percent and won the rebounding battle by six (33-27).

Last Time vs. Furman
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Jordan Strawberry led Mercer with 23 points and Stephon Jelks added 10 rebounds but the host Paladins rallied to defeat Mercer, 71-69, Monday night at Timmons Arena in Greenville.
Furman made five of six free throws in the last 34 seconds as part of 22 points from the charity stripe. Devin Sibley led the Paladins (9-6, 2-0 Southern) with 23 points.

Jordan Strawberry led Mercer (6-9, 0-2) with 23 points and twice pulled the Bears within a point late in the game - hitting a jumper to make it 63-62 and a 3-pointer making it 66-65 with 51 seconds left. The total was one off his career best.

Strawberry played despite learning of his maternal grandfather's death earlier Monday.

Andrew Fishler scored nine and Desmond Ringer eight for Mercer.

The win was Furman's 11th straight Southern Conference home victory.

Win No. 80? Quite the Homecourt Advantage!
The win for the Bears on Monday against Western Carolina marked the team's 81st 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.

Not Two, Nor Four ... But Three!
A win over Western Carolina Monday evening at Hawkins Arena meant a third consecutive win for Mercer matching the team's longest winning streak of the season. That earlier streak came back in November with consecutive wins over Georgia Southern (80-67), Radford (58-47) and East Carolina (70-66).

Ria'n is More Reliable than A Rolex
Death, taxes and Ria'n Holland scoring 20-plus points. Like clockwork, these seem to be the three constants in life. Holland, who ranks third in the SoCon in scoring averaging 17.5 points per game, has registered nine games of 20 points or more. That ranks second in the SoCon (behind ETSU's T.J. Cromer) and just two behind likely All-American Malik Monk (Kentucky).

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Andrew Fishler

Ria'n Holland

Stephon Jelks

Desmond Ringer

Jordan Strawberry

Footer

Mercer University Athletics