Bears Roar Back In Victory Over VMI

Wednesday, January 15

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

7-11,1-4SoCon

VMI

5-14,0-6SoCon

VMI

Mercer

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

1/15/2020 10:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer shot 60 percent in the second half to mount its comeback

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team shot 60.7 percent in the second half to roar back to a 73-62 victory over VMI in Southern Conference action on Wednesday night.

The win for the Bears was its first SoCon victory of the season. Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 26 points in the contest to lead the Bears. Dimitrijevic hit a career-high six three-pointers in the win, with five coming in the second half. Ethan Stair and Jeff Gary rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 and 11 points, respectfully. For the contest, the Bears shot 52 percent from the floor.

VMI (5-14, 0-6 SoCon) came out of the gate and took an early four-point lead, 10-6, after Jake Stephens second three-pointer in 30-seconds. The lead grew to nine, 15-9 after Tyler Crreammer hit a three with 13:59 left in the first half.

The Bears (7-11, 1-4 SoCon) trimmed the lead down to four, 15-11, after a Dimitrijevic three-pointer. However, following the three, the Bears went cold and VMI grew the lead to 16 points, 27-11, with 8:51 to go. The lead stayed in double-figures until 3:40 to go in the half, 29-22. Mercer would not get any closer in the half and trailed 38-27 at halftime.

Coming out of the break, Mercer started chipping away at the Keydets lead. With 15:54 left in the game, Dimitrijevic hit a three-pointer putting the Bears down eight, 43-35. Three minutes later a three-pointer by Gary trimmed the lead down to four, 46-42. The next possession for the Bears, Stair hit a layup and put the Bears down two, 46-44.

After the Keydets got the lead, back to six, Mercer scored the next five points, all by Dimitrijevic. His hot hand continued as with 9:16 left in the game, he hit the three tying the game at 52-52. With the Bears down one, 55-54, Dimitrijevic hit one of his five threes in the second half, putting Mercer ahead 57-55, which was the Bears first lead of the night.

After taking the lead, the Bears did not let the Keydets back in the game. Over the seven minutes span in starting with 7:45 left in the game, Mercer went on a 19-2 run and stretched its lead to 16 points, 73-57. The Bears came away with a 73-62 victory.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "That first half, I was wondering if we were going to get it. First half, everyone knows we did not play well, but I loved the fact we came out and responded and competed in the second half. I told the team at halftime do not play through your offense. They (VMI) were doing whatever they wanted to on their offensive end. There was no pressure. There was no resistance and a team like that moves the ball from side to side, a passing game, Princeton style, if you allow that to happen, you are going to be behind plays all night. That's what happens; we had to turn up our competitiveness and, as far as our fight, to make it harder for them to get to the basket and to compete better."

NOTABLES

Djordje Dimitrijevic hit six three-pointers in the win over VMI. The six three-pointers are a career-high for a single game.
Mercer shot 60.7 percent in the second half to erase an 11-point halftime deficit. Mercer scored 46 points in the second half.
Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 26 points in the contest against the Keydets with 19 points coming in the second half.
For the fourth time this season, the Bears hit 10 or more threes in a contest. The Bears hit 11 three-pointers against VMI.
Ethan Stair scored 12 points in the contest against the Keydets and now has 991 in his career at Mercer.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 when they travel to Birmingham, Ala. to face Southern Conference opponent Samford. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET from the Pete Hanna Center.

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.