Men’s Basketball Hits the Road to Face Georgia Southern

MACON, Ga. – For the first time since the 2007 season, the Mercer men's basketball team travels to Statesboro, Ga. to face Georgia Southern on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The game will be played at Hanner Fieldhouse and tip is at 7 p.m.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: November 19, 2019 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Mercer (3-1) at Georgia Southern (2-2)
Location: Statesboro, Ga. | Hanner Fieldhouse
Live Stats: GSeagles.com
Radio: 100.9 The Creek FM and SportsMic – Rick Cameron
TV: ESPN+
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Mercer trails 41-68 in the series
• Current Streak: L1
• Last Meeting: L, 89-74, (12/8/2018)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball travels to Statesboro, Ga. to face Georgia Southern for the first time since, Dec. 8, 2018. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. against Georgia Southern. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+. It will also be on the 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE EAGLES
Georgia Southern enters the contest with the Bears with a record of 2-2… The Eagles are finishing up a two game home stand when Mercer travels to town on Tuesday… Georgia Southern is coming off a 76-73, victory over Radford on Friday night…. Georgia Southern was picked third in the Sun Belt in the conference's Preseason Men's Basketball Coaches Poll. Quan Jackson was named first-team All-Sun Belt, Ike Smith was named second-team all-league and Isaiah Crawley was named third team all-conference… The Eagles posted 20 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in 30 years. The last time GS won 20 games two years in a row was in 1987-88 (24-7) and 1988-89 (22-6). GS has three 20-win seasons in the last five years… Ike Smith has been named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List. The award is given annually to the nation's top Division I Mid-Major player… As a team, the Eagles are scoring 84.0 points and allowing 72.8 points per game… They are led by Isaiah Crawley who is averaging 17.0 points per game. The Eagles are shooting 47.3 percent from the floor this season. They are averaging 13.0 turnovers per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer is coming off an 84-68 victory over Florida Gulf Coast University on Friday, Nov. 15. The Bears raced out to an early 20-4 lead in the contest. The Eagles scored the first two points and the Bears answered with 17 straight. Mercer only trailed for five seconds in the contest against FGCU. In the contest, James Glisson III finished with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. This was his first game in double-figures this season. Mercer shot 53.3 percent from the floor. It was their first time shooting over 50 percent from the floor since March 9, 2018. Mercer scored 46 of its 84 points in the paint against FGCU.

LAST TRIP TO STATESBORO
The last time the Bears made the trip to Statesboro, Ga. came early during the 2007-08 season. On Nov. 26, 2007, Mercer fell to Georgia Southern, 80-69, at Hanner Fieldhouse. Brian Pfohl led the Bears with 21 points in the contest. The Bears shot 47.4 percent from the floor in the contest. Mercer has dropped its last 12 games in Statesboro. The last win for Mercer at Georgia Southern came during the 1985-86 season when the Bears won 62-55.

TRAVELING BEARS
The Bears are hitting the road for its longest road trip of the season. Mercer will be on the road for its next five games, which includes games in Statesboro, Ga., Chicago, Ill., Olean, N.Y. and Boca Raton, Fla. The four of the next five games will be part of the Boca Raton Beach Classic. The next time the Bears return to Hawkins Arena will be on Dec. 7 when they host Georgia State.

STARTING THE YEAR 3-1
After dropping its first game of the season, the Bears answered back and have won three straight games taking a 3-1 record into the contest at Georgia Southern. Since the 2010-11 season, the Bears have opened the season 3-1 four times The most recent came during the 2017-18 season when they started the season 4-1. Over this stretch, the best start for the Bears came during the 2015-16 season when Mercer started the year 8-1. Below are the last nine years' first four-game records for Mercer.

Year Record
2018-19                2-2
2017-18                3-1
2016-17                3-1
2015-16                3-1
2014-15                2-2
2013-14                2-2
2012-13                2-2
2011-12                3-1
2010-11                1-3

SETTING CAREER-HIGHS
Daniel Love, James Glisson III and Patrick Urey all had career days on Friday night against FGCU. Love made his first career start and played a career-high 26 minutes. He scored 16 points and collected five rebounds for a career-high. Love was not the only one to set career-highs as Glisson III scored 18 points, had three assists and played 31 minutes all of career-highs. The last player to have a career day was Urey. The redshirt-freshman scored four points, collected five rebounds and played 23 minutes all career-highs.

FOUR GAMES, THREE DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The Bears have played four games this season and in three of the games, the Bears have recorded a double-double. This season, Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic have picked up double-doubles. Stair has collected two double-doubles and Dimitrijevic has recorded his first of the season. Below are the stats for the Bears double-doubles this season. Stair missed out the on a double-double against FGCU as he scored 15 points and had nine rebounds.

Ethan Stair, 23 points and 10 rebounds at St. John's, 11/6/19
Ethan Stair, 17 points and 12 rebounds vs. Columbia International, 11/8/19
Djordje Dimitrijevic, 16 points and 10 rebounds vs. Kennesaw State, 11/11/19

BOCA RATON BEACH CLASSIC
The Mercer men's basketball team will be playing in the inaugural Boca Raton Beach Classic presented by Sport Changes Life. The event will be held in conjunction with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Games will be played on Sunday, Dec. 1 and Monday, Dec. 2 at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena, on the campus of FAU. The eight-team classic will be split into two separate four-team brackets. In addition to the contest on Dec. 1 and 2, the Bears will travel to Illinois-Chicago (Nov. 23) and St. Bonaventure (Nov. 26), respectfully, as part of the tournament.

SENIOR DUO LOOKING TO JOIN 1,000-POINT CLUB
Both Ross Cummings and Ethan Stair are closing into on becoming the Bears 41st and 42nd 1,000-career scores in Mercer History. Entering the season, Ross Cummings has scored 817 career points, while Ethan Stair has scored 780 points. Sitting in 40th on the 1,000 point club for Mercer is Dartez Talbott who scored 1,014 points in his career at Mercer, which stretched from the 1979-81 seasons. James Florence, who played for the Bears from 2006-10, is the all-time leading scorer as he scored 2,286 points. Florence is the only 2,000 point scorers in Mercer history. The list of players that Cummings and Stair are looking to catch is below.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 36-40)
                Rk.         Name                    Pts
                36           Will Emerson     1,050
                T37         Jim Hearn            1,034
                T37         Reggie Elliott      1,034
                38           Rodney Kirtz       1,025
                39           Donnie Veal        1,023
                40           Dartez Talbott   1,014

3-POINT FIELD GOALS
Not only is Ross Cummings closing in at 1,000 points but also he is closing in on becoming the all-time leading three-point field goals leader. In his three years at Mercer, Cummings has hit 162 three-pointers, which ranks fourth all-time. He is 90 threes away from tying the career record holder of Langston Hall, who hit 256 threes. Below are the top five career three-point shooters to wear a Mercer uniform. With his 166 made three-pointers in his career, Cummings is the third active leader in the SoCon.

3-Point Field Goals Made (Career)
                Name                   3-FGM Years
1.            Langston Hall      256         2010-14
2.            James Florence 242         2006-10
3.            E.J. Kusnyer        190         2008-10
4.            Ross Cummings 166         2016-Present
5.            Bud Thomas       161         2010-14

FREE THROWS MADE
The Bears rank first in the SoCon in free throws made this season. Over the first four games of the season, Mercer has made 64 free throws and have three players with ten or more makes this season. Djordje Dimitrijevic is 17-for-19 from the line and his 16 are the most on the team. Ethan Stair is second on the team making 13 and Kamar Robertson is third with 10 made free throws. As a team, the Bears are making 76.2 percent of their free throws.

GREG GARY COACH'S SHOW
With the 2019-20 season underway, so is the Greg Gary Coach's Show. The 11 edition show will be streamed on Sportsmic Radio and the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page. The show is aired from Margaritas in Mercer Village from 6 to 7 p.m. The first show can be restreamed on the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page. The next Coach's Show will take part on Monday, Dec. 9.

PRESEASON All-SoCON TEAM
Mercer guard Ross Cummings, a 6-3 senior from Dickson, Tenn., has been selected to the preseason All-SoCon Team. Cummings started all 31 games a year ago and averaged 17.4 points per game. He hit 101 three-pointers last year, which was the second-most made in a single season in school history. Over his first three years of his career, Cummings has made 162 three-pointers, ranking him fourth all-time at Mercer. On three different occasions, Cummings set new career-highs for scoring. On Nov. 27, 2018, against Brewton-Parker, he scored 31 points. The career-high points changed to 36 on Jan. 10 against Western Carolina. A month and a half later, he scored 37 points, setting another career-high against Chattanooga. His 37-point contest came at Hawkins Arena. This second-highest total scored by a Mercer player at Hawkins Arena. James Florence scored 39 points, a Mercer single-game high, on Feb. 16, 2007.

SoCON CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2020 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship presented by General Shale will be held March 6-9 at Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina. The 2020 edition of the tournament is the 100th for the nation's oldest collegiate conference basketball tournament.

UP NEXT
Following the contest with Georgia Southern, the Bears head to Chicago, Illinois to play Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 23. This contest is part of the Boca Raton Beach Classic. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET from Chicago.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer 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.

Men’s Basketball Hits the Road to Face Georgia Southern

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ross Cummings

Djordje Dimitrijevic

James Glisson III

Daniel Love

Kamar Robertson

Ethan Stair

Patrick Urey

Footer

Mercer University Athletics