Sunday, February 25
Spartanburg, S.C.
2 p.m.
Mercer University
18-13,11-7SoCon
69
at
68
Wofford
20-11,11-7SoCon
1
2
F
Mercer
32
37
69
Wofford
30
38
68
Team Stats
MER
WOF
FG%
.500
.473
3FG%
.412
.385
FT%
.933
.667
RB
32
23
TO
11
8
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Strawberry’s Late Heroics Lift Mercer to 69-68 Win at Wofford
2/25/2018 5:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bears Win Their 8th Straight With Thrilling Road Victory
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Jordan Strawberry scored a game-high 21 points, including the game-winner on a layup with 10 seconds remaining, to give Mercer a 69-68 Southern Conference victory Sunday afternoon at Wofford. The Bears close out the regular season with an eight-game winning streak and head into next weekend's conference tournament as the hottest team in the league.
Strawberry, a 6-1 senior guard, scored 19 points in the second half. Trailing 68-67 with 14 seconds left in the game, Mercer Head Coach Bob Hoffman called his team's final timeout to draw up the play. Stephon Jelks found an open Strawberry under the basket who laid it in at the 10 second mark to give Mercer the lead and eventual win. Wofford's
Fletcher Magee, who leads the nation in three point shooting, misfired on a three ball with four seconds remaining and the Bears rebounded the errant shot to seal the win.
Strawberry also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out six assists to lead the Bears. Three other Mercer plays went for double figures, including Jelks with 12 and Desmond Ringer and Demetre Rivers with 10 apiece. Ringer also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Both teams opened the game playing solid defense as the lead went back and forth. Trailing 25-24 at the 4:24 mark, Mercer proceeded to go on an 8-0 run and take a 32-25 advantage, capped by a Ross Cummings' three pointer with 1:40 remaining in the half. Wofford closed the break with a 5-0 run and Mercer took a 32-30 lead into the locker room.
The Terriers came out strong in the second half, going on a quick 12-4 run to take a 42-36 lead. Wofford extended the lead to 45-38 before Mercer caught fire, scoring 10 unanswered points highlighted by three point baskets by Strawberry and Jelks as the Bears regained the lead 48-45 with 13:05 remaining.
Wofford's Magee then began to heat up, draining back-to-back three pointers to lift the Terriers back to a 62-60 lead at the 4:59 mark. Jelks responded with a three pointer for Mercer with 3:50 remaining and the Bears were back on top 65-64. Magee came up with a steal and was headed for a breakaway layup only to have Cummings come up with a stellar defensive play and negate what would have been a go ahead bucket for the Terriers. Strawberry knocked down a pair of three throws at the 2:44 mark before Wofford's Trevor Stumpe scored at the 1:45 mark to shave the lead to one, 67-66. Following a Mercer turnover, Wofford's Nathan Hoover knifed through the lane for a score to put the Terriers up 68-67 with 18 seconds left on the clock, setting the stage for Mercer's game-winning basket by Strawberry.
Cameron Jackson and Magee paced the Wofford scoring attack with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Mercer outrebounded Wofford 32-23 and hit 50% from the field (24-48) and 93% from the free throw line (14-15).
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jordan Strawberry is playing as well as any guard in the Southern Conference. Strawberry scored a game-high 21 points, including 19 in the second half. He scored the game-winning basket with 10 seconds remaining to lift the Bears to their 69-68 victory. Strawberry was seven of 13 from the field, including two of five on three pointers, and hit five of six from the charity stripe. Strawberry also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists.
NOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "We actually changed the play right before we threw the ball in. We put that play in about a week ago. Steph (Jelks) made a great pass and Jordan (Strawberry) got open and laid it in. Jordan is giving a "player of the year" performance of late. This team just believes in each other and they have consistently maintained their hope even though we might have been struggling during the early part of the conference season. We were trying to figure out what we needed to do with Ria'n (Holland) and Ethan (Stair) out with injuries and our other guys just stepped up and kept believing in what we wanted to do. I'm just thankful that these guys are able to experience this now. Our guys are believing at a high level right now. As a team, we executed there at the end. This was definitely a team win for sure."
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer travels to Asheville, N.C., to compete in the Southern Conference Championship Tournament March 2-5 at the U.S. Cellular Center. The Bears are the tournament's No. 4 seed and will take on Wofford, the No. 5 seed on Saturday, March 3 with tipoff time set for 2:30 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.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Jordan Strawberry scored a game-high 21 points, including the game-winner on a layup with 10 seconds remaining, to give Mercer a 69-68 Southern Conference victory Sunday afternoon at Wofford. The Bears close out the regular season with an eight-game winning streak and head into next weekend's conference tournament as the hottest team in the league.
Strawberry, a 6-1 senior guard, scored 19 points in the second half. Trailing 68-67 with 14 seconds left in the game, Mercer Head Coach Bob Hoffman called his team's final timeout to draw up the play. Stephon Jelks found an open Strawberry under the basket who laid it in at the 10 second mark to give Mercer the lead and eventual win. Wofford's
Fletcher Magee, who leads the nation in three point shooting, misfired on a three ball with four seconds remaining and the Bears rebounded the errant shot to seal the win.
Strawberry also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out six assists to lead the Bears. Three other Mercer plays went for double figures, including Jelks with 12 and Desmond Ringer and Demetre Rivers with 10 apiece. Ringer also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Both teams opened the game playing solid defense as the lead went back and forth. Trailing 25-24 at the 4:24 mark, Mercer proceeded to go on an 8-0 run and take a 32-25 advantage, capped by a Ross Cummings' three pointer with 1:40 remaining in the half. Wofford closed the break with a 5-0 run and Mercer took a 32-30 lead into the locker room.
The Terriers came out strong in the second half, going on a quick 12-4 run to take a 42-36 lead. Wofford extended the lead to 45-38 before Mercer caught fire, scoring 10 unanswered points highlighted by three point baskets by Strawberry and Jelks as the Bears regained the lead 48-45 with 13:05 remaining.
Wofford's Magee then began to heat up, draining back-to-back three pointers to lift the Terriers back to a 62-60 lead at the 4:59 mark. Jelks responded with a three pointer for Mercer with 3:50 remaining and the Bears were back on top 65-64. Magee came up with a steal and was headed for a breakaway layup only to have Cummings come up with a stellar defensive play and negate what would have been a go ahead bucket for the Terriers. Strawberry knocked down a pair of three throws at the 2:44 mark before Wofford's Trevor Stumpe scored at the 1:45 mark to shave the lead to one, 67-66. Following a Mercer turnover, Wofford's Nathan Hoover knifed through the lane for a score to put the Terriers up 68-67 with 18 seconds left on the clock, setting the stage for Mercer's game-winning basket by Strawberry.
Cameron Jackson and Magee paced the Wofford scoring attack with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Mercer outrebounded Wofford 32-23 and hit 50% from the field (24-48) and 93% from the free throw line (14-15).
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jordan Strawberry is playing as well as any guard in the Southern Conference. Strawberry scored a game-high 21 points, including 19 in the second half. He scored the game-winning basket with 10 seconds remaining to lift the Bears to their 69-68 victory. Strawberry was seven of 13 from the field, including two of five on three pointers, and hit five of six from the charity stripe. Strawberry also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists.
NOTABLES
- The victory extended Mercer's winning streak to eight games. That is the longest winning streak for a Mercer team since the 2013-14 season, in which the Bears ran off eight wins in a row in the month of January.
- Mercer's eight-game winning streak is also tied for the sixth longest current winning streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball. Only Michigan State (12), Murray State (11), Gonzaga (11), Middle Tennessee State (10) and St. Bonaventure (10) have longer winning streaks than the Bears. Besides Mercer, other teams currently riding eight-game winning streaks include Lehigh and South Dakota State.
- Desmond Ringer nearly had a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down nine boards.
- Stephon Jelks (12) and Demetre Rivers (10) also scored in double figures for the Bears.
Coach Bob Hoffman – "We actually changed the play right before we threw the ball in. We put that play in about a week ago. Steph (Jelks) made a great pass and Jordan (Strawberry) got open and laid it in. Jordan is giving a "player of the year" performance of late. This team just believes in each other and they have consistently maintained their hope even though we might have been struggling during the early part of the conference season. We were trying to figure out what we needed to do with Ria'n (Holland) and Ethan (Stair) out with injuries and our other guys just stepped up and kept believing in what we wanted to do. I'm just thankful that these guys are able to experience this now. Our guys are believing at a high level right now. As a team, we executed there at the end. This was definitely a team win for sure."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: (18-13, 11-7 SoCon)
- Wofford: (20-11, 11-7 SoCon)
Mercer travels to Asheville, N.C., to compete in the Southern Conference Championship Tournament March 2-5 at the U.S. Cellular Center. The Bears are the tournament's No. 4 seed and will take on Wofford, the No. 5 seed on Saturday, March 3 with tipoff time set for 2:30 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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