Tuesday, November 13
Atlanta, Ga.
7 p.m.
Mercer University
1-2
60
at
62
Georgia State
2-1
1
2
F
Mercer
25
35
60
Georgia State
40
22
62
Team Stats
MER
GSU
FG%
.397
.426
3FG%
.269
.429
FT%
.700
.167
RB
39
31
TO
14
14
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Mercer’s Furious Second Half Rally Falls Short Against Georgia State
11/13/2018 9:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears’ Comeback Ends In Narrow 62-60 Road Defeat
ATLANTA, GA – Mercer nearly erased a 19-point second half deficit before being edged 62-60 by in-state opponent Georgia State Tuesday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
Down 55-36 with 9:57 remaining, Mercer ended the game on a 24-7 run and had a chance to take the lead on its final possession but junior guard Djordje Dimitrijevic misfired on a three-pointer with four seconds remaining to give Georgia State the hard-fought win.
Ross Cummings helped ignite the Mercer comeback in the second half, draining three straight long range jumpers to draw the Bears within six at 57-51 at the 4:48 mark. A pair of three throws by Dimitrijevic cut the margin to four at 60-56, which was the closest the Bears had been since midway through the opening half. Following a basket by GSU's Jeff Thomas, Mercer's Ethan Stair knocked down a pair of free throws to close the gap to 62-58. Dimitrijevic hit a basket at the 1:04 mark to draw Mercer within 62-60. GSU's Damon Wilson missed the front end of a one and one with 20 seconds left and Mercer pulled down the rebound setting the stage for Dimitrijevic's final shot.
Stair led the Bears in scoring with 12 points and also had a game-high nine rebounds. Cummings heated up in the second stanza to score 10. Cory Kilby tallied nine and Dimitrijevic came off the bench to score nine.
Thomas led all scorers with 30 points, connecting on 11 of 17 field goal attempts, including eight of 13 from three point land. Reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year D'Marcus Simonds scored 16, nine below his average. The difference in the game was GSU's ability to knock down the three point shot, as 15 of the Panthers' 23 field goals were three point baskets.
Georgia State took an early 8-2 lead thanks to a three-point basket by Simonds at the 16:52 mark. The Bears battled back to take a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer by Stair with 11:52 remaining in the first half. The Panthers then went on a 14-2 run, culminated by a three-pointer from Malik Benlivi at the 7 minute mark to grab a 27-16 advantage. GSU stretched the lead to 16 at 36-20 on another three-point bucket from Simonds with 2:41 remaining. Mercer found itself down 40-25 at intermission. The second half would be a different story; however, as Mercer dug deep and mounted a big comeback.
Mercer is now 1-2 on the season while Georgia State improves to 2-1.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
NOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "The mindset of our guys in the second half was amazing. That's what I told them at the half; we can either keep going like it is, get a sandwich, and be on our way, or we can fight back and be a part of an amazing comeback. Our guys responded and showed a lot of grit. I thought our guys stayed together and competed in the second half. They (Georgia State) had several barrages of three pointers they threw on us and we kept coming back. We're still trying to figure things out. We ran a play one way one time and another way the other time. We need to figure out how to do things within the team concept. I told Ethan (Stair) in the locker room after the game, I think he has the chance to be one of the best rebounding guards in the country. I think he looked the part tonight. I liked how we fought against a very good team that is picked to win their league. I don't like the loss, but I like the way we fought. The outcome wasn't what we wanted but give credit to Coach (Ron) Hunter and his team."
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer returns home to host the University of Tennessee at Martin Friday, Nov. 16. Tipoff time at Hawkins Arena is 7 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.
Down 55-36 with 9:57 remaining, Mercer ended the game on a 24-7 run and had a chance to take the lead on its final possession but junior guard Djordje Dimitrijevic misfired on a three-pointer with four seconds remaining to give Georgia State the hard-fought win.
Ross Cummings helped ignite the Mercer comeback in the second half, draining three straight long range jumpers to draw the Bears within six at 57-51 at the 4:48 mark. A pair of three throws by Dimitrijevic cut the margin to four at 60-56, which was the closest the Bears had been since midway through the opening half. Following a basket by GSU's Jeff Thomas, Mercer's Ethan Stair knocked down a pair of free throws to close the gap to 62-58. Dimitrijevic hit a basket at the 1:04 mark to draw Mercer within 62-60. GSU's Damon Wilson missed the front end of a one and one with 20 seconds left and Mercer pulled down the rebound setting the stage for Dimitrijevic's final shot.
Stair led the Bears in scoring with 12 points and also had a game-high nine rebounds. Cummings heated up in the second stanza to score 10. Cory Kilby tallied nine and Dimitrijevic came off the bench to score nine.
Thomas led all scorers with 30 points, connecting on 11 of 17 field goal attempts, including eight of 13 from three point land. Reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year D'Marcus Simonds scored 16, nine below his average. The difference in the game was GSU's ability to knock down the three point shot, as 15 of the Panthers' 23 field goals were three point baskets.
Georgia State took an early 8-2 lead thanks to a three-point basket by Simonds at the 16:52 mark. The Bears battled back to take a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer by Stair with 11:52 remaining in the first half. The Panthers then went on a 14-2 run, culminated by a three-pointer from Malik Benlivi at the 7 minute mark to grab a 27-16 advantage. GSU stretched the lead to 16 at 36-20 on another three-point bucket from Simonds with 2:41 remaining. Mercer found itself down 40-25 at intermission. The second half would be a different story; however, as Mercer dug deep and mounted a big comeback.
Mercer is now 1-2 on the season while Georgia State improves to 2-1.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
- Junior guard Ethan Stair scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Bears. The nine boards equaled his career-high.
NOTABLES
- Mercer had 23 field goals on the night – the same number as Georgia State. However, Mercer connected on seven three-point baskets while GSU made 15 shots from behind the arc.
- Mercer won the battle of the boards 39-31.
- The Bears outscored GSU 35-22 in the second half.
- Freshman Fardaws Aimaq once again showed signs of promise coming off the bench, collecting eight rebounds and scoring six points.
- Cummings and Dimitrijevic led the way with five assists apiece.
- Over the past 10-plus seasons, Mercer is the winningest men's basketball program in the state of Georgia with 199 victories. Georgia State is second with 185 wins during that time frame.
Coach Bob Hoffman – "The mindset of our guys in the second half was amazing. That's what I told them at the half; we can either keep going like it is, get a sandwich, and be on our way, or we can fight back and be a part of an amazing comeback. Our guys responded and showed a lot of grit. I thought our guys stayed together and competed in the second half. They (Georgia State) had several barrages of three pointers they threw on us and we kept coming back. We're still trying to figure things out. We ran a play one way one time and another way the other time. We need to figure out how to do things within the team concept. I told Ethan (Stair) in the locker room after the game, I think he has the chance to be one of the best rebounding guards in the country. I think he looked the part tonight. I liked how we fought against a very good team that is picked to win their league. I don't like the loss, but I like the way we fought. The outcome wasn't what we wanted but give credit to Coach (Ron) Hunter and his team."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: (1-2, 0-0 SoCon)
- Georgia State: (2-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Mercer returns home to host the University of Tennessee at Martin Friday, Nov. 16. Tipoff time at Hawkins Arena is 7 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.
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