Saturday, February 16
Johnson City, Tenn.
4 p.m.
Mercer University
69
at
88
ETSU
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Judy Stapleton
Mercer Falls 88-69 At East Tennessee State
2/16/2019 6:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
First half shooting woes difference in the game for the Bears
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Mercer's men's basketball team fell 88-69 to East Tennessee State in a Southern Conference game Saturday afternoon at Freedom Hall.
Ethan Stair led the Bears with 18 points, while Ross Cummings scored 17; all of those coming in the second half. Mercer went the final 8:55 of the opening half without scoring a field goal and put themselves at a deficit that they weren't able to recover from.
ETSU featured balanced scoring with four players in double figures. Daivien Williamson tallied 16, while Jeromy Rodriguez scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds. Tray Boyd III delivered a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists, while Lucas N'Guessan had 12 points and eight rebounds.
When Mercer's Daniel Love hit a jump shot at the 8:55 mark of the opening half to tie the score at 16-16, ETSU proceeded to go on a 24-5 run to close out the half and take a 40-21 lead into the locker room. Love's field goal was the last basket Mercer scored in the first half as the Bears' outside shooting went cold. The Bucs nailed 16 of 19 free throws in the first half to help them gain some separation.
Mercer wasn't able to close the gap in the second half, as ETSU's lead grew to as many as
29 points (79-50). With the loss, Mercer is now 9-17 overall and 4-10 in the SoCon while ETSU improves to 21-7 and 11-4.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ethan Stair scored a game-high 18 points – one shy of his career-best. He also grabbed four rebounds, had one assist and one steal.
NOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "We started pretty well and had some opportunities, but then we made some turnovers and they hit some threes and we just couldn't get back into the game. Seventeen turnovers against this type of team just can't happen. They found the gaps and got into us. I thought Victor Bafutto had a really game and I thought Ethan (Stair) and Ross (Cummings) were pretty good in the second half. They are really quick and athletic. I didn't think that we played the kind of game that we had to play against a team like this. The season is far from over though. We need to find a way to get a win this Thursday night."
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer returns home to play host to Samford Thursday, Feb. 21. Start time for the SoCon contest is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at Hawkins Arena.
Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's 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.
Ethan Stair led the Bears with 18 points, while Ross Cummings scored 17; all of those coming in the second half. Mercer went the final 8:55 of the opening half without scoring a field goal and put themselves at a deficit that they weren't able to recover from.
ETSU featured balanced scoring with four players in double figures. Daivien Williamson tallied 16, while Jeromy Rodriguez scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds. Tray Boyd III delivered a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists, while Lucas N'Guessan had 12 points and eight rebounds.
When Mercer's Daniel Love hit a jump shot at the 8:55 mark of the opening half to tie the score at 16-16, ETSU proceeded to go on a 24-5 run to close out the half and take a 40-21 lead into the locker room. Love's field goal was the last basket Mercer scored in the first half as the Bears' outside shooting went cold. The Bucs nailed 16 of 19 free throws in the first half to help them gain some separation.
Mercer wasn't able to close the gap in the second half, as ETSU's lead grew to as many as
29 points (79-50). With the loss, Mercer is now 9-17 overall and 4-10 in the SoCon while ETSU improves to 21-7 and 11-4.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ethan Stair scored a game-high 18 points – one shy of his career-best. He also grabbed four rebounds, had one assist and one steal.
NOTABLES
- Ross Cummings, Mercer's leading scorer, was held scoreless in the opening half but got hot and scored 17 points in the second half.
- Victor Bafutto continued his impressive play. The 6-10 Brazilian scored four points, had five rebounds and four blocked shots.
- Two freshman guards also contributed. Daniel Love scored nine points to tie his career high and also had four rebounds and one blocked shot. CJ Williamson scored four points and grabbed two rebounds.
- ETSU outscored Mercer 44-24 in the point and hit 27 of 35 free throws while the Bears connected on 16 of 25 from the charity stripe.
Coach Bob Hoffman – "We started pretty well and had some opportunities, but then we made some turnovers and they hit some threes and we just couldn't get back into the game. Seventeen turnovers against this type of team just can't happen. They found the gaps and got into us. I thought Victor Bafutto had a really game and I thought Ethan (Stair) and Ross (Cummings) were pretty good in the second half. They are really quick and athletic. I didn't think that we played the kind of game that we had to play against a team like this. The season is far from over though. We need to find a way to get a win this Thursday night."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: (9-17, 4-10 SoCon)
- East Tennessee : (21-7, 11-4 SoCon)
Mercer returns home to play host to Samford Thursday, Feb. 21. Start time for the SoCon contest is set for 7 p.m. (ET) at Hawkins Arena.
Follow the Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's 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.
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