Saturday, January 27
Macon, Ga.
4 P.M.
Mercer University
(10-12, 3-6)
74
vs
76
The Citadel
(7-13, 2-6)
1
2
F
The Citadel
25
51
76
Mercer
33
41
74
Team Stats
CIT
MER
FG%
.463
.407
3FG%
.400
.276
FT%
.857
.786
RB
29
36
TO
17
17
STL
10
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
9
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Mercer’s Late Rally Comes Up Short As The Bears Fall 76-74 to The Citadel
1/27/2018 7:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – Down as many as 16 points late in the second half, Mercer staged a furious rally only to come up short in a 76-74 Southern Conference decision to The Citadel Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.
Down 61-45 with eight minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the contest, the Bears went on a 17-4 run to slice the lead to 65-62 on a pair of free throws by Jordan Strawberry with 2:13 left. The Citadel was able to hit key free throws down the stretch, but some last minute heroics by Strawberry and Ross Cummings kept the Bears' hopes alive; Strawberry's three-point basket at the buzzer made the final verdict 76-74. The loss snapped a 13-game win streak Mercer had enjoyed against the Bulldogs.
Strawberry led all scorers with 22 points while Cummings came off the bench for the Bears to tally a career-high 16. Marcus Cohen also hit the double-figures, scoring 10. Mercer outrebounded The Citadel 36-29 and outscored the Bulldogs 26-20 in the paint. Desmond Ringer led the Bears with nine rebounds while Stephon Jelks pulled down eight boards. Jelks now has 771 career rebounds, which ranks third all-time on the school's list.
The Citadel had four players score in double figures, led by Matt Frierson's 14 points. Zane Najdawi, Quayson Williams, and Kaelon Harris scored 13 points apiece for the Bulldogs. The Citadel knocked down 14 three-point baskets on the afternoon, which played a big role in the road victory.
Mercer led by as many as five points in the first half, but wasn't able to find much separation from their rivals from Charleston. Tariq Simmons' three-point basket at the 5:49 mark gave The Citadel its first lead of the half, 22-21. Mercer quickly regained the lead on a Demetre Rivers' layup with 5:10 remaining. Mercer eased out to a 31-25 lead on Cohen's bucket with 49 seconds to go. Jelks knocked down a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock to give the Bears a 33-25 lead at the break.
Mercer came out strong in the second half and took a 40-30 lead on a Cohen basket with 18:15 remaining and appeared to have taken control of the game. The Bulldogs roared back, however, with a 20-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 50-40 lead at the 12:06 mark of the second half. The Citadel lead ballooned to 61-45 on a Najdawi three-pointer with 8:10 remaining before the Bears rallied back.
Mercer fell to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the SoCon. The Citadel improved to 7-13 and 2-6 in the league.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Jordan Strawberry was the player of the game for the Bears scoring a game-high 22 points on 5 for 13 from the field, including three long balls. Strawberry also recorded four rebounds, three assists and had a steal in 35 minutes of play.
QUOTABLES
"We got it handed to us the second half. We tried a lot of different things; we just didn't execute like we had to in order to defeat a team like this. We missed a lot of layups and they hit a lot of open three's. We played good for the first 20 minutes and then we kind of stood around and missed a lot of open shots in the second half. We had a lot of opportunities and we just didn't capitalize. We were chasing them all over the place and we couldn't find them. Ross (Cummings) hit some shots and we came up with some turnovers late, but you can't win a game like this if you don't play defense like you're supposed to. We came up short and you can't do that if you want to have the season like we want to have." – Head Coach Bob Hoffman
NOTABLES
Mercer remains at home and will host Furman, Thursday, Feb. 1, with tipoff time set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) at Hawkins Arena.
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.
Down 61-45 with eight minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the contest, the Bears went on a 17-4 run to slice the lead to 65-62 on a pair of free throws by Jordan Strawberry with 2:13 left. The Citadel was able to hit key free throws down the stretch, but some last minute heroics by Strawberry and Ross Cummings kept the Bears' hopes alive; Strawberry's three-point basket at the buzzer made the final verdict 76-74. The loss snapped a 13-game win streak Mercer had enjoyed against the Bulldogs.
Strawberry led all scorers with 22 points while Cummings came off the bench for the Bears to tally a career-high 16. Marcus Cohen also hit the double-figures, scoring 10. Mercer outrebounded The Citadel 36-29 and outscored the Bulldogs 26-20 in the paint. Desmond Ringer led the Bears with nine rebounds while Stephon Jelks pulled down eight boards. Jelks now has 771 career rebounds, which ranks third all-time on the school's list.
The Citadel had four players score in double figures, led by Matt Frierson's 14 points. Zane Najdawi, Quayson Williams, and Kaelon Harris scored 13 points apiece for the Bulldogs. The Citadel knocked down 14 three-point baskets on the afternoon, which played a big role in the road victory.
Mercer led by as many as five points in the first half, but wasn't able to find much separation from their rivals from Charleston. Tariq Simmons' three-point basket at the 5:49 mark gave The Citadel its first lead of the half, 22-21. Mercer quickly regained the lead on a Demetre Rivers' layup with 5:10 remaining. Mercer eased out to a 31-25 lead on Cohen's bucket with 49 seconds to go. Jelks knocked down a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock to give the Bears a 33-25 lead at the break.
Mercer came out strong in the second half and took a 40-30 lead on a Cohen basket with 18:15 remaining and appeared to have taken control of the game. The Bulldogs roared back, however, with a 20-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 50-40 lead at the 12:06 mark of the second half. The Citadel lead ballooned to 61-45 on a Najdawi three-pointer with 8:10 remaining before the Bears rallied back.
Mercer fell to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the SoCon. The Citadel improved to 7-13 and 2-6 in the league.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior guard Jordan Strawberry was the player of the game for the Bears scoring a game-high 22 points on 5 for 13 from the field, including three long balls. Strawberry also recorded four rebounds, three assists and had a steal in 35 minutes of play.
QUOTABLES
"We got it handed to us the second half. We tried a lot of different things; we just didn't execute like we had to in order to defeat a team like this. We missed a lot of layups and they hit a lot of open three's. We played good for the first 20 minutes and then we kind of stood around and missed a lot of open shots in the second half. We had a lot of opportunities and we just didn't capitalize. We were chasing them all over the place and we couldn't find them. Ross (Cummings) hit some shots and we came up with some turnovers late, but you can't win a game like this if you don't play defense like you're supposed to. We came up short and you can't do that if you want to have the season like we want to have." – Head Coach Bob Hoffman
NOTABLES
- Freshman guard Marcus Cohen earned his first collegiate start, tallying 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
- Sophomore guard Ross Cummings scored a career-high 16 points, knocking down four three pointers and recording a rebound, block and steal along the way.
- Senior forward Stephon Jelks flirted with a double-double, posting nine points and eight rebounds.
- Mercer won the battle inside, outscoring the Bulldogs 26-20 in between the blocks.
- The Bears shot 40.7 percent (22-54) from the field, but struggled behind the arc going 8-for-29 (27.6 percent).
- Mercer: (10-12, 3-6 SoCon)
- The Citadel: (7-13, 2-6 SoCon)
Mercer remains at home and will host Furman, Thursday, Feb. 1, with tipoff time set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) at Hawkins Arena.
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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