Dimitrijevic Career Day Not Enough In Bears Loss

Saturday, January 11

Cullowhee, N.C.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

6-11,0-4SoCon

Western Carolina

12-3,4-0SoCon

Mercer

Western Caro.

Photo by: Ben Murray

Dimitrijevic Career Day Not Enough In Bears Loss

1/11/2020 8:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Dimitrijevic scored a career-high 34 points

By: Travis Rae

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Djordje Dimitrijevic scored a career-high 34 points but it was not enough as Mercer men's basketball was defeated by Western Carolina, 79-71, on Saturday night in the Ramsey Center on the campus of Western Carolina.

Dimitrijevic went 10-of-19 from the field in the loss. He hit two three-pointers and has now hit a three in 15 straight contests. Maciej Bender collected a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the Bears. Mercer shot 38.1 percent from the floor but struggled shooting from behind the arc as they shot 10.5 percent on three-pointers.

Over the first three minutes of the game, the Bear and Catamounts traded baskets and a Matt Halvorsen three-pointer put WCU ahead, 6-4. Mercer did not let the Catamounts grow the lead and a jumper by Dimitrijevic put the Bears down two, 8-6.

Midway through the first half, Western Carolina grew its lead to five points, 17-12, but the Bears battled back and a pair of free throws by Jeff Gary put Mercer down one, 17-16. Western Carolina followed by growing its lead to six, 22-16 over the next two minutes.

Mercer again battled back and with four minutes to go before halftime, Daniel Love hit a pair of free throws tying the game at 24-24. After the game was tied at 26-26, the Catamounts grew the lead back to five points, but a jumper by Gary and a layup by Love put the Bears down one, 31-30. Western Carolina scored the final five points of the half and Mercer trailed 36-30 at halftime.

Opening the second half, WCU came out and grew the lead to nine-points, 45-36, after a Mason Faulkner three-pointer. The Catamounts continued to hold a nine-point lead, 50-41, with 14:54 left in the contest. Mercer scored the next four points and trimmed the lead down to six, 50-44.

Trailing by 11, 61-50, with 7:38 to go in the game, the Bears slowly started chipping away at the lead. Mercer went on a 6-0 run and after a pair of free throws by Dimitrijevic, the Bears trailed by five points, 61-56.

With four minutes to go in the game, the Bears had the lead down to four, 63-59, after a Dimitrjevic three-pointer, but the Catamounts grew the lead back to 10, 69-59, over the next two minutes of the game. Mercer would get as close as four, 75-71, but would not get any close and would fall to Western Carolina, 79-71.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "I liked our fight. Our fight was much better than it was in our last game against Chattanooga. I just told the guy's in there that gives us a chance when you can fight like that, now we can start coaching and teaching basketball. I did like our fight and I didn't realize Djordje had 34 points."

NOTABLES

Djordje Dimitrijevic scored a career-high 34 points in the loss at Western Carolina. This is the first time a Bear has scored 30 or more points in a game since Feb. 23, 2019, when Ross Cummings scored 37 against Chattanooga.
The Bears shot 2-for-19 on the three-point attempts against the Catamounts.
Maciej Bender set a career-high with 13 rebounds against Western Carolina. His previous career-high was 11.
Djordje Dimitrijevic hit two three-pointers in the contest and now has hit a three-pointer in 15 straight games.
The Bears went 21-for-24 from the free throw line. This was the first time since Nov. 11, 2019, that the Bears have made 20 or more free throws in a game.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 15 when they host VMI. The Bears and Keydets tipoff at 7 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.

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