Bears Fall in Statesboro

Tuesday, November 19

Statesboro, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

3-2,0-0SoCon

Georgia Southern

3-2,0-0Sun Belt

Mercer

Ga. Southern

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

11/19/2019 10:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Ethan Stair set a career-high with 28 points

By: Travis Rae

STATESBORO, Ga. – The Mercer Bears three game-winning streak ended on Tuesday in Statesboro, Georgia as Georgia Southern defeated the Bears, 98-88, at Hanner Fieldhouse. This was the Bears first trip to Statesboro since the 2007-08 season.

The Bears had five players score in double-figures led by Ethan Stair, who set a career-high with 28 points. Djordje Dimitrijevic and Ross Cummings followed with 16 apiece and Maciej Bender scored a career-high 14 points. James Glisson III rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. The Bears shot 52.5 percent from the floor in the loss.

Georgia Southern's Elijah McCadden scored the first bucket of the game putting the Eagles ahead. Following his field goal, the Bears offense started to heat up and five straight points by Dimitrijevic put the Bears ahead, 13-5. Mercer grew the lead to 15, 21-6, with 14:29 to go in the first half.

Over the next four minutes, Georgia Southern went on a run and trimmed the lead down to three, 25-22. Mercer slowly grew the lead back to nine, before the Eagles made another run. A three by McCadden put the Eagles down two, 38-36.
The Eagles took a three-point lead, 44-41, late in the first half but the Bears came back and tied the game at 46-46 after a Stair three-pointer. Georgia Southern scored the final points of the half and Mercer trailed 48-46, heading into the locker room.

Coming out in the second half, the Bears and Eagles traded punches and after six and a half minutes of play, Georgia Southern led 59-58. With the Bears down by one, the offense cooled off as they scored three points over the next five-minutes and Georgia Southern stretched its lead to 13, 74-61.

The Bears continued to battle and with 4:55 on the clock, Mercer found themselves down 11, 86-75. However, the Eagles grew the lead back to 17 points. The Bears would be defeated, 98-88, by Georgia Southern.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "Our defense has to get better. We broke down a lot defensively and we can't do that when they have such good balance scoring the basketball. We have to do a better job defensively. Our guys shot the ball well but we can't live through our offense."

NOTABLES

Ethan Stair set a career-high with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting including hitting six three-pointers. The last time a Bear scored over 25 points in a game was Feb. 23, 2019.
Maciej Bender scored 14 points and collected nine rebounds in the contest. Both were career-highs.
Mercer hit nine three-pointers in Statesboro. The nine threes' are the second most they have hit in a single contest.
The Bears had five players score in double-figures in the contest. This is the first time since Jan. 26, 2019 they had five players score in double-figures in a single game.
For the second straight contest, the Bears shot over 50 percent from the floor. Against Georgia Southern, the Bears shot 52.5 percent (31-59) for the game.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday, Nov. 23 when they travel to Chicago, Ill. to face Illinois-Chicago as part of the Boca Raton Beach Classic. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET.

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.