Mercer University
11-18
VMI
9-20
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Bears' Second Half Shooting Woes Lead To 84-71 Defeat At VMI
2/28/2019 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Mercer's Two-Game SoCon Winning Streak Snapped
LEXINGTON, Va. – Despite a career-best 22 point scoring effort from junior Ethan Stair, Mercer dropped an 84-71 Southern Conference matchup against Virginia Military Institute Thursday night at Cameron Hall. The loss snapped Mercer's two-game winning streak.
The Bears, who shot a blistering 61.5% from the field in the first half, only hit 38.7% of their shots the second 20 minutes as VMI outscored Mercer 41-29 after half time. VMI finished the game on an 11-1 run and the Bears went without a field goal the game's final 4:34 as the Keydets pulled away late to seal the victory.
Senior Jaylen Stowe recorded a double-double for the Bears, tallying 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ross Cummings, the SoCon's reigning Player of the Week, scored 15 while Marcus Cohen tallied 10 points and dished out a game-high seven assists.
VMI's Bubba Parham, the SoCon's leading scorer, erupted for 31 points, connecting on eight of 13 field goals, including six of 10 behind the three point arc. Parham also sank all nine of his free throw attempts. Myles Lewis had 17 points and eight boards for the Keydets.
VMI made 19 of 23 from the free throw line while Mercer was only four of 13 from the charity stripe.
The game was close throughout the first half with VMI taking a 43-42 lead into the locker room. Mercer eased out in front 59-53 with 11:24 remaining on a basket by Stowe as the Bears claimed their largest lead of the game. The Keydets proceeded to go on a 14-3 run to get back out in front 67-62 with 7:32 left. Mercer was never able to get closer than a three point deficit as VMI knocked down its free throws and hit clutch shots down the stretch to put the game away and garner the 84-71 win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Junior Ethan Stair scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Bears' attack. The Hazel Green, Ala., product knocked down eight of 12 field goals, including five of seven from three point land. Stair's previous career-high was 19 points against The Citadel.
NOTABLES
- Jaylen Stowe recorded his second double-double of the campaign with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
- Ross Cummings hit four of six three point shots en route to a 15-point performance. Cummings also had four assists on the evening.
- Marcus Cohen led both teams with seven assists.
- Victor Bafutto came off the bench to contribute six points and three rebounds.
QUOTABLES
Coach Bob Hoffman – "They just played a lot harder than we did. Early on we had some opportunities to get some layups and some "and ones" but our big guys didn't finish the plays when we needed to although Vic (Bafutto) played pretty good. They had more energy for 40 minutes than we did and we weren't able to get it done. It was a physical game; they were all over Ross (Cummings) the entire game and it's hard to get shots when people are on you like they were. The mindset and toughness in this kind of environment means that you have to be mentally tough and we weren't. They came at us and they had a better game plan than we did. We couldn't stop Myles Lewis the second half. We had some busts on offense late in the game when it was just a one possession game. We have a big game Saturday (against UNCG) and we need to be ready to play."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: (11-18, 6-11 SoCon)
- VMI : (9-20, 3-14 SoCon)
Up Next
Mercer makes its final home appearance as it concludes the regular season portion of the schedule by hosting the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Saturday, March 2. Start time at Hawkins Arena is set for 4:30 p.m. (ET).
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