Stair Collects Double-Double in Loss to St. John’s

Wednesday, November 6

Queens, N.Y.

6:30 p.m.

Mercer University

0-1,0-0SoCon

109

St. John's

1-0,0-0Big East

Mercer

St. John's (NY)

109

Stair Collects Double-Double in Loss to St. John’s

11/6/2019 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Stair led the Bears with 23 points and 10 rebounds

By: Travis Rae

QUEENS, N.Y. – On his birthday, Ethan Stair collected a double-double as he scored 23 points and collected 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as the Bears were defeated by St. John's, 109-79, at Carnescca Arena on the campus of St. John's University.

Three players scored double-figures for the Bears led by Stair's 23 points, which was a career-high. Djordje Dimitrijevic and Luke Hamilton rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points apiece. Mercer shot 35 percent from the field in the contest, while the Red Storm shot 50.

The Bears and Red Storm traded points early in the contest and after a pair of free throws by Dimitrijevic, Mercer found itself down three, 9-6. Following the free throws, St. John's went on an 8-0 run taking a 17-6 lead.

The Red Storm continued grew the lead to 13, 25-12, but a three by Hamilton cut the lead down to ten, 25-15. Following Hamilton's three, the Red Storm scored the next 14 points. The Bears battled and after a three by Diego Rivera, the Bears went into halftime trailing 59-38.

Coming out of halftime, the Bears went on a 5-0 run that was capped by a Stair three-pointer. After the run, the Bears trailed by 16, which would be the closest they would get in the second half. The Red Storm slowly stretched the lead to 20 points in the second half before coming away with a 109-79 victory.

QUOTABLE
Coach Greg Gary – "I looked at the stats, they got 30 points off turnovers, and that was our number 1 goal to take care of the ball and we talked about that several times this week. This was a good learning experience for our guy's and when you are playing against a physical and athletic team like that, when you turn it over it will lead to points.

NOTABLES

On his birthday, Ethan Stair collected a double-double for the Bears. He led Mercer with 23 points and collected 10 rebounds. His 23 points was a career-high.
The Bears hit 12 three-pointers against St. John's. This is the second straight contest the Bears have hit 12 three's in. They hit 12 in the exhibition contest against St. Andrews.
Mercer assisted on 16 of its 26 made baskets against the Red Storm.
The Bears committed 24 turnovers in the contest, which lead to 30 points for St. John's
Mercer collected 19 offensive rebounds in the contest, which resulted in 18-second chance points.

UP NEXT
Mercer returns to action on Friday, Nov. 8 when they host Columbia International at Hawkins Arena. This will be the home opener for the Bears. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

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