Thursday, January 17
Chattanooga, Tenn.
8 p.m.
Mercer University
70
at
73
Chattanooga
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Daniel Gibbons
Mercer Falls Short 73-70 At Chattanooga
1/17/2019 10:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Cummings scores game-high 22 points in tough road contest
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Ross Cummings continued his high-scoring ways, tallying a game-high 22 points, but that wasn't enough for Mercer to overcome Chattanooga as the Bears fell 73-70 Thursday night at McKenzie Arena.
Â
Cummings, a 6-3 junior guard, knocked down eight of 14 shots, including five of six from behind the arc, and also handed out five assists for the Bears. Jaylen Stowe was the only other Bear to score in double figures, notching 16 points while grabbing three rebounds. Mercer missed several baskets from close range in the second half and only connected on seven of 12 from the free throw line; both of those shortcomings certainly played a role in the game's outcome.
Â
UTC saw four players score in double figures, led by Jerry Johnson's 15 points. Freshman Kevin Easley recorded a double-double, tallying 11 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Donovann Toatley had 13 and David Jean-Baptiste scored 11 for the Mocs.
Â
UTC jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before Mercer went ahead 9-8 on freshman Daniel Love's basket at the 16:22 mark of the first half. The Bears then proceeded to go on a 15-8 run, culminated by Stowe's layup with 10:52 remaining, to move out in front 24-16. The Mocs responded with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the score at 24-24. UTC continued to shine offensively with a bucket by Ramon Vila at the 5:45 mark lifting the home team to a 32-26 advantage. The Mocs continued to hold the upper hand and took a 38-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Â
The scored remained close through the early stages of the second half. Cummings hit a three at the 11:30 mark to put Mercer up 54-53. A basket by Johnson with 4:58 left put UTC up 66-64. Mercer's Marcus Cohen scored on a driving layup with 4:41 remaining to tie the score at 66-66. UTC's Thomas Smallwood drained a three-pointer, his only basket of the game, with 4:08 left to put the Mocs up 69-66. Cohen's basket at the 2:42 mark gave Mercer a 70-69 advantage, but the Bears would go scoreless the remainder of the game. With UTC clinging to a 71-70 lead, Cummings drove to the basket only to have Vila block his shot with 21 seconds left. UTC rebounded and Easley sank two free throws with 10 seconds left to provide the final margin of victory, 73-70. Mercer's Djordje Dimitrijevic misfired on a three pointer with one second remaining and the Mocs held on for the win.
Â
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ross Cummings, Mercer's leading scorer on the season, tallied a game-high 22 points. Cummings was 8-14 from the floor, including 5-6 from three point range. He also handed out a game-high five assists in 36 minutes of action.
Â
NOTABLES
QUOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "It came down to two or three possessions at the end. We had so many wide open layups and missed way too many of those. Our guys battled, but we have to finish plays. I really haven't seen anything like this in my 30 years of coaching college basketball. You have to believe it's going to turn around for us; I thought it would tonight, but it didn't. You make the layups that we had and we win the game. We are just looking for some good things to happen for this team. All I know is to keep working hard, believing and work on the things that we're not doing well. We had every opportunity to win this game on the road and we came up short."
Â
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer continues its SoCon road swing by visiting Samford Saturday, Jan. 19. Tipoff time at the Pete Hanna Center is set for 3 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.
Â
Â
Cummings, a 6-3 junior guard, knocked down eight of 14 shots, including five of six from behind the arc, and also handed out five assists for the Bears. Jaylen Stowe was the only other Bear to score in double figures, notching 16 points while grabbing three rebounds. Mercer missed several baskets from close range in the second half and only connected on seven of 12 from the free throw line; both of those shortcomings certainly played a role in the game's outcome.
Â
UTC saw four players score in double figures, led by Jerry Johnson's 15 points. Freshman Kevin Easley recorded a double-double, tallying 11 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Donovann Toatley had 13 and David Jean-Baptiste scored 11 for the Mocs.
Â
UTC jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before Mercer went ahead 9-8 on freshman Daniel Love's basket at the 16:22 mark of the first half. The Bears then proceeded to go on a 15-8 run, culminated by Stowe's layup with 10:52 remaining, to move out in front 24-16. The Mocs responded with an 8-0 run of their own to tie the score at 24-24. UTC continued to shine offensively with a bucket by Ramon Vila at the 5:45 mark lifting the home team to a 32-26 advantage. The Mocs continued to hold the upper hand and took a 38-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Â
The scored remained close through the early stages of the second half. Cummings hit a three at the 11:30 mark to put Mercer up 54-53. A basket by Johnson with 4:58 left put UTC up 66-64. Mercer's Marcus Cohen scored on a driving layup with 4:41 remaining to tie the score at 66-66. UTC's Thomas Smallwood drained a three-pointer, his only basket of the game, with 4:08 left to put the Mocs up 69-66. Cohen's basket at the 2:42 mark gave Mercer a 70-69 advantage, but the Bears would go scoreless the remainder of the game. With UTC clinging to a 71-70 lead, Cummings drove to the basket only to have Vila block his shot with 21 seconds left. UTC rebounded and Easley sank two free throws with 10 seconds left to provide the final margin of victory, 73-70. Mercer's Djordje Dimitrijevic misfired on a three pointer with one second remaining and the Mocs held on for the win.
Â
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ross Cummings, Mercer's leading scorer on the season, tallied a game-high 22 points. Cummings was 8-14 from the floor, including 5-6 from three point range. He also handed out a game-high five assists in 36 minutes of action.
Â
NOTABLES
- Senior guard Jaylen Stowe continued his steady play for the Bears, scoring 16 points and grabbing three rebounds.
- Ethan Stair, among the SoCon leaders in steals, had two takeaways on the evening.
- Freshman guard Daniel Love saw 11 minutes of action and responded with a four-point, two-rebound effort.
- Mercer outrebounded UTC 36-34 and outscored the Mocs 32-18 in the paint.
- Mercer only turned the ball over six times.
QUOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "It came down to two or three possessions at the end. We had so many wide open layups and missed way too many of those. Our guys battled, but we have to finish plays. I really haven't seen anything like this in my 30 years of coaching college basketball. You have to believe it's going to turn around for us; I thought it would tonight, but it didn't. You make the layups that we had and we win the game. We are just looking for some good things to happen for this team. All I know is to keep working hard, believing and work on the things that we're not doing well. We had every opportunity to win this game on the road and we came up short."
Â
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer:Â (6-12, 1-5 SoCon)
- UTC :Â (9-10, 4-2 SoCon)
Mercer continues its SoCon road swing by visiting Samford Saturday, Jan. 19. Tipoff time at the Pete Hanna Center is set for 3 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.
Â
Mercer Football Press Conference (Week 7 vs Princeton)
Monday, October 06
Mercer 45 | Samford 21 Post Game Press Conference 10//5/25
Sunday, October 05
Mercer Football 2025 | vs. Samford | Full Game Highlights
Sunday, October 05
Mercer Football Press Conference (Week 6 vs Samford)
Tuesday, September 30
