Saturday, December 1
Charleston, S.C.
1 p.m.
Mercer University
4-4, 0-1SoCon
69
at
79
The Citadel
6-2, 1-0SoCon
1
2
F
Mercer
33
36
69
The Citadel
25
54
79
Team Stats
MER
CIT
FG%
.362
.426
3FG%
.200
.364
FT%
.706
.682
RB
41
42
TO
12
12
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
6
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Judy Stapleton
Mercer Falls 79-69 At The Citadel in SoCon Opener
12/1/2018 3:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears Unable To Keep Pace In The Second Half
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite a career-effort from junior guard Ethan Stair, Mercer was outscored 54-36 in the second half and fell 79-69 at The Citadel in a Southern Conference opening game for both teams Saturday afternoon at McAlister Fieldhouse.
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Stair pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds and scored 11 points to turn in perhaps his finest all-around performance in a Bear uniform. Ross Cummings tallied a game-high 22 points, hitting six of his team's seven three pointers, while Jaylen Stowe equaled his career high with 15. Freshman guard Daniel Love scored nine and handed out a team-high five assists. The Citadel had four players hit for double figures, led by Zane Najdawi's 18. Lew Stallworth had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
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Mercer relied on strong team defense and ball movement to lead the majority of the opening half. Â The Bears went up 14-8 on a three-point basket by Cummings at the 13:46 mark. Following a timeout, The Citadel responded with an 8-0 to reclaim the lead 16-14 thanks to a three point play by Stallworth. The Bears finished the half on a 19-9 run to take a 33-25 lead into halftime. Mercer, playing a bit short handed due to injuries to guards Marcus Cohen and DJ Peavy, received valuable minutes from junior guards Stair and Cummings, along with freshmen Love and Fardaws Aimaq in the opening 20 minutes.
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The Citadel came roaring out after the break, outscoring the Bears 10-0 over a two minute period to reclaim the lead 35-33. Mercer settled in, thanks to the long range shooting of Cummings to ease back into a 41-39 lead. With the scored deadlocked at 44-44 at the 12:18 mark, The Citadel's offense heated up while Mercer's went cold, as the Bulldogs went on an 18-6 run to gain a commanding 62-50 lead on a three-point bucket from Stallworth at the 6:50 mark. Mercer sliced the lead to eight (67-59) on a Cory Kilby layup with 3:48 remaining; however a three-pointer by the Bulldogs' Matt Frierson with 1:53 left extended the margin to 74-59 and pretty much sealed the win for The Citadel.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
Junior guard Ethan Stair tallied his first career double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds on the afternoon.
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NOTABLES
QUOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "We got our rears kicked and I need to do a better job. Ethan (Stair) was amazing; he fought every possession and did all he could. Daniel Love can do some things; he is really talented and understands how to play the game. He made some mistakes but he keeps learning. (Lew) Stallworth is a tough kid; he's very physical and gets to the basket. I knew The Citadel was going to be good; they've had some good wins. We missed some wide open shots and we need to make those in the future."
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer stays on the road traveling to the Sunshine State to face Florida Atlantic University of Conference USA Wednesday, Dec. 5. Start time at FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Fla., is 7 p.m.
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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Stair pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds and scored 11 points to turn in perhaps his finest all-around performance in a Bear uniform. Ross Cummings tallied a game-high 22 points, hitting six of his team's seven three pointers, while Jaylen Stowe equaled his career high with 15. Freshman guard Daniel Love scored nine and handed out a team-high five assists. The Citadel had four players hit for double figures, led by Zane Najdawi's 18. Lew Stallworth had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Â
Mercer relied on strong team defense and ball movement to lead the majority of the opening half. Â The Bears went up 14-8 on a three-point basket by Cummings at the 13:46 mark. Following a timeout, The Citadel responded with an 8-0 to reclaim the lead 16-14 thanks to a three point play by Stallworth. The Bears finished the half on a 19-9 run to take a 33-25 lead into halftime. Mercer, playing a bit short handed due to injuries to guards Marcus Cohen and DJ Peavy, received valuable minutes from junior guards Stair and Cummings, along with freshmen Love and Fardaws Aimaq in the opening 20 minutes.
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The Citadel came roaring out after the break, outscoring the Bears 10-0 over a two minute period to reclaim the lead 35-33. Mercer settled in, thanks to the long range shooting of Cummings to ease back into a 41-39 lead. With the scored deadlocked at 44-44 at the 12:18 mark, The Citadel's offense heated up while Mercer's went cold, as the Bulldogs went on an 18-6 run to gain a commanding 62-50 lead on a three-point bucket from Stallworth at the 6:50 mark. Mercer sliced the lead to eight (67-59) on a Cory Kilby layup with 3:48 remaining; however a three-pointer by the Bulldogs' Matt Frierson with 1:53 left extended the margin to 74-59 and pretty much sealed the win for The Citadel.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
Junior guard Ethan Stair tallied his first career double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds on the afternoon.
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NOTABLES
- Mercer attempted two more three pointers than The Citadel did (35/33) but connected on just seven shots from behind the arc, with six of those coming from Ross Cummings.
- Jaylen Stowe equaled his career-high with 15 points, the same number of points he scored in last Saturday's game at North Carolina State.
- Daniel Love's nine points and five assists were both career highs for the rookie guard from Orlando, Fla.
- Djordje Dimitrijevic, Mercer's leading scorer coming into the game at 15.4 points per game, was held to two points on the afternoon on 1-11 shooting from the floor.
- The Citadel outshot Mercer 42.6%-36.2% from the field.
- Mercer's next SoCon game isn't until Jan. 3 when the Bears travel to Furman. In fact, Mercer's first three conference games are away from home this year, as the Bears play at Wofford on Jan. 5 before opening the home portion of their conference season Jan. 10 vs. Western Carolina at Hawkins Arena.
QUOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "We got our rears kicked and I need to do a better job. Ethan (Stair) was amazing; he fought every possession and did all he could. Daniel Love can do some things; he is really talented and understands how to play the game. He made some mistakes but he keeps learning. (Lew) Stallworth is a tough kid; he's very physical and gets to the basket. I knew The Citadel was going to be good; they've had some good wins. We missed some wide open shots and we need to make those in the future."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer:Â (4-4, 0-1 SoCon)
- The Citadel :Â (6-2, 1-0 SoCon)
Mercer stays on the road traveling to the Sunshine State to face Florida Atlantic University of Conference USA Wednesday, Dec. 5. Start time at FAU Arena in Boca Raton, Fla., is 7 p.m.
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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