Hot Shooting Bears Down Milligan, 104-52

Saturday, December 28

Macon, Ga.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

6-8,0-1SoCon

104

Milligan

0-3

Milligan

Mercer

104

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

12/28/2019 4:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Seven different Bears scored in double figures

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team returned to the court for the first time since its holiday break on Saturday and came away with a 104-52 victory over Milligan College. The Bears had seven players score in double-figures.

Ethan Stair had 17 points in the game, which led the Bears. He also collected 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year. Coming off the bench was Kamar Robertson, who scored a career-high 16 points. Victor Bafutto (13 points), Mitch Prendergast (13 points), Jeff Gary (12 points), James Glisson III (11 points) and Maciej Bender (10 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers. Mercer shot 51.9 percent from the floor.

Over the first three minutes of the contest, the Bears scored the first seven points, on a three by Stair and two layups by Gary. The Buffaloes came back and scored the next nine points taking a 9-7 lead with 14:02 left in the half.

With the Bears down one, 13-12, Bender hit a pair of free throws. The free throws put Mercer ahead and sparked an 11-2 run. Milligan continued attacking and a three by Bo Pless trimmed the lead down to three, 25-22.

Mercer slowly stretched its lead to 15 points, 45-30, late in the first half after a Mitch Prendergast three-pointer. Milligan trimmed the lead down to 11 twice in the final two minutes but a Prendergast three put the Bears ahead, 51-37, heading into halftime.

Over the first five and a half minutes of the second half, the Bears went on a 9-2 run capped by a Robertson three which put the Bears ahead 60-39. Three minutes later, Stair hit a three-pointer growing the lead to 23, 67-44.

Over the final ten minutes of the contest, the Bears offense continued to remain hot as they extended the lead over the Buffaloes. After a Stair steal, which resulted in a fast-break dunk, the Bears led 77-46, with 8:13 left. Mercer limited the Buffaloes to six points for the remainder of the game as Mercer closed the game on a 27-6 run. Mercer came away with a 104-52 victory.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "Our energy level in the second half was high and we played harder than in the first half. I didn't realize that we held Milligan to 16 points in the second half, which is good. We have to continue getting better because the next guys were about to play are a very good team and its conference."

NOTABLES

The Bears scored 100 or more points for the first time since Nov. 9, 2018. The last time Mercer scored 100 was against Piedmont College.
Mercer hit 14 three-pointers against the Buffaloes. This is the most threes the Bears have hit in a single game.
Victor Bafutto scored 13 points and collected a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Kamar Robertson scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Mercer shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the contest. This is the third time this season they have shot over 50 percent from the floor.
The Bears had seven players score in double-figures in the contest. This is the first time since Nov. 9, 2018, to have six or more players score in double-figures.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 1 when they travel to Greensboro, N.C. to face UNCG in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from the Greensboro Coliseum.

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.