Tuesday, November 20
Macon, Ga.
7 p.m.
Mercer University
3-2, 0-0
80
vs
42
Maryland Eastern Shore
0-5, 0-0
1
2
F
Maryland Eastern Sho
14
28
42
Mercer
45
35
80
Team Stats
MDESM
MER
FG%
.319
.526
3FG%
.188
.435
FT%
.818
.769
RB
23
38
TO
17
14
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballPhoto by: Judy Stapleton
Dominant First Half Powers Bears To Victory Over UMES
11/20/2018 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bob Hoffman Earns 600th Career Win
MACON, GA – Mercer raced out to a 45-14 halftime lead enroute to posting its second consecutive win as the Bears defeated the University of Maryland Eastern Shore 80-42 Tuesday night at Hawkins Arena.
Freshman guard DJ Peavy led a balanced Mercer scoring attack, tallying a game-high 15 points on five of seven shooting from the floor. Peavy connected on all three of his three point attempts and displayed his athletic ability with a highlight reel dunk at the conclusion of the first half. Junior forward Cory Kilby scored 13, the second most in his Mercer career, while junior guard Djordje Dimitrijevic went for 12 and handed out a game-high four assists. Sophomore guard Ross Cummings scored 10, while freshman post man Fardaws Aimaq scored nine and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Mercer hit 52.6% of its field goals (30-57), including 43.5% from three point land (10-23). The Bears dominated the backboards, outrebounding UMES 38-23. Mercer also outscored the Hawks in the paint 39-20.
Leading 9-2 at the 15:29 mark of the opening half, the Bears went on a 24-10 run to grab a commanding 33-12 lead with 4:51 left in the first half. The lead ballooned to 31 at the half, accentuated by Peavy's slam dunk prior to the buzzer sounding for intermission.
Mercer came out a bit sluggish in the second half, trading baskets with the Hawks over the first 10 minutes of the final stanza. Leading 52-29 with 11:35 remaining in the contest, Mercer proceeded to go on a 16-2 run over the next six minutes to extend the lead to 37. The Bears were able to substitute freely down the stretch with Mercer claiming the 80-42 victory.
Montraz Oliver led UMES with 13 points followed by Bryan Urrutia who had 12. The Hawks were able to connect on just 31.9% of their field goal attempts (15-47), including just three of 16 (.188) from behind the arc.
Mercer improves to 3-2 on the season while UMES falls to 0-5.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Freshman guard DJ Peavy led all scorers with 15 points, hitting five of seven field goals, including all three of his three point attempts. This all came about in just 15 minutes of playing time.
NOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "I thought the first half we played really well; it was the best half we've played so far. We were connecting in every area. The beginning of the second half we didn't respond very well. I thought they (UMES) came out to try to prove a point and they did. I wasn't very pleased with how we started the second half. DJ Peavy has been our leading scorer twice now in five games; he's still trying to figure everything out, but he's quite an athlete. CJ (Williamson) is still trying to get in the swing of things but he's coming around. I think our young guys still have a ways to go, but I think that we if can keep improving we could be a deep team before too long. I think Marcus (Cohen) and Djordje (Dimitrijevic) complement each other pretty well. (On Saturday's game at North Carolina State) NC State will press us once we get off the bus; they a very good team so we'll have to be really, really good on Saturday."
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer travels to Raleigh, N.C., to take on the undefeated North Carolina State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference Saturday, Nov. 24. Tipoff time at PNC Arena is 5:30 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.
Freshman guard DJ Peavy led a balanced Mercer scoring attack, tallying a game-high 15 points on five of seven shooting from the floor. Peavy connected on all three of his three point attempts and displayed his athletic ability with a highlight reel dunk at the conclusion of the first half. Junior forward Cory Kilby scored 13, the second most in his Mercer career, while junior guard Djordje Dimitrijevic went for 12 and handed out a game-high four assists. Sophomore guard Ross Cummings scored 10, while freshman post man Fardaws Aimaq scored nine and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Mercer hit 52.6% of its field goals (30-57), including 43.5% from three point land (10-23). The Bears dominated the backboards, outrebounding UMES 38-23. Mercer also outscored the Hawks in the paint 39-20.
Leading 9-2 at the 15:29 mark of the opening half, the Bears went on a 24-10 run to grab a commanding 33-12 lead with 4:51 left in the first half. The lead ballooned to 31 at the half, accentuated by Peavy's slam dunk prior to the buzzer sounding for intermission.
Mercer came out a bit sluggish in the second half, trading baskets with the Hawks over the first 10 minutes of the final stanza. Leading 52-29 with 11:35 remaining in the contest, Mercer proceeded to go on a 16-2 run over the next six minutes to extend the lead to 37. The Bears were able to substitute freely down the stretch with Mercer claiming the 80-42 victory.
Montraz Oliver led UMES with 13 points followed by Bryan Urrutia who had 12. The Hawks were able to connect on just 31.9% of their field goal attempts (15-47), including just three of 16 (.188) from behind the arc.
Mercer improves to 3-2 on the season while UMES falls to 0-5.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Freshman guard DJ Peavy led all scorers with 15 points, hitting five of seven field goals, including all three of his three point attempts. This all came about in just 15 minutes of playing time.
NOTABLES
- Mercer had four players score in double figures – Peavy (15), Kilby (13), Dimtrijevic (12), and Cummings (10).
- Mercer won the battle of the boards in convincing fashion 38-23.
- Freshman Fardaws Aimaq pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds for the Bears. Aimaq nearly collected a double-double, scoring nine points on the evening.
- Twelve Bears saw action in the game, with 10 players scoring.
- Mercer connected on 52.6% of its field goal attempts and 43.5% of its three point tries.
- Over the past 10-plus seasons, Mercer is the winningest men's basketball program in the state of Georgia with 201 victories.
Coach Bob Hoffman – "I thought the first half we played really well; it was the best half we've played so far. We were connecting in every area. The beginning of the second half we didn't respond very well. I thought they (UMES) came out to try to prove a point and they did. I wasn't very pleased with how we started the second half. DJ Peavy has been our leading scorer twice now in five games; he's still trying to figure everything out, but he's quite an athlete. CJ (Williamson) is still trying to get in the swing of things but he's coming around. I think our young guys still have a ways to go, but I think that we if can keep improving we could be a deep team before too long. I think Marcus (Cohen) and Djordje (Dimitrijevic) complement each other pretty well. (On Saturday's game at North Carolina State) NC State will press us once we get off the bus; they a very good team so we'll have to be really, really good on Saturday."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: (3-2, 0-0 SoCon)
- UMES: (0-5, 0-0 MEAC)
Mercer travels to Raleigh, N.C., to take on the undefeated North Carolina State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference Saturday, Nov. 24. Tipoff time at PNC Arena is 5:30 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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