Men’s Basketball Falls In I-75 Battle

Saturday, December 7

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

4-6,0-0SoCon

Georgia State

6-3,0-0Sun Belt

Georgia St.

Mercer

12/7/2019 8:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Victor Bafutto scored a career-high 14 points in the loss

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team dropped the battle of I-75 to Georgia State, 73-61, on Saturday evening. The loss for the Bears was its first loss at Hawkins Arena during the 2019-20 season.

Victor Bafutto and Djordje Dimitrijevic led the way for the Bears with 14 points each. The 14 points by Bafutto is a career-high. Ethan Stair followed with 13 points and had a team-high eight rebounds. Mercer struggled shooting in the first half as they shot 18 percent from the floor. The offense heated up in the second half, as they shot 56 percent. The Bears outrebounded the Panthers 38-23 in the contest.

The Bears struggled on the offensive end to start the game, as they were 0-for-11 to open the game. During the cold stretch for the Bears, Georgia State scored 13 points. During this stretch, Patrick Urey hit a free throw putting Mercer down, 13-1.

The first field goal for the Bears came with 11:31 left in the half as Maciej Bender hit a layup putting the Bears down 10, 13-3. Georgia State slowly stretched the lead to 14-points, 18-4, after a layup by Jalen Thomas. Georgia State stretched the lead to 16, 31-15, right before the half but Mitch Prendergast hit a three-pointer putting the Bears down 13, 31-18, at halftime.

The lead stayed in double-digits in favor of the Panthers to open the second half. Trailing by 16, 38-22, Mercer started chipping away at the lead as the Bears went on a 10-2 run trimming the lead down to eight, 40-32, after a Dimitrijevic layup.

Mercer had the lead down to seven, 49-42, after a Stair jumper in the lane. Georgia State stretched the lead back to double-digits and again Mercer cut the lead down to seven after a Dimitrijevic three-pointer with seven minutes to go.

Following the three by Dimitrijevic, the Panthers scored the next four points taking the lead back to double-figures. Mercer got the game back to single-digits at nine, 60-51, after Diego Rivera hit a pair of free throws. The Bears would not get any closer in the game and would fall to Georgia State, 73-61, in the contest.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "Early on it was a struggle. We had some good shots and some open looks at the rim. It deflates you when you don't make them. We just dug too much of a hole. We had a great second half. I told the team after the game, we had a lot of positives, and we will keep working every day.
NOTABLES

Victor Bafutto scored a career-high 14 points against Georgia State. He shot 5-for-9 from the floor.
The Bears had 26 bench points against the Panthers as Bafutto scored 14 points off the bench.
Mercer recorded seven steals and had five different players record a steal. The seven steals in the contest is the sixth most steals in a single game this season.
The Bears went 5-for-14 on three-pointers. This was the first game shooting over 30 percent on threes since Nov. 26 at St. Bonaventure.
The Bears outrebounded the Panthers 38-23 in the contest. Ethan Stair led the Bears with eight rebounds. James Glisson III and Patrick Urey followed with seven rebounds each.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Monday, Dec. 16 when they travel to Wilmington, N.C. to face UNC Wilmington. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Trask 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.