Men’s Basketball Hosts Chattanooga on Saturday

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team returns to Hawkins Arena on Saturday, Jan. 4 when they host Chattanooga in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m.

Admission is FREE for Saturday's contest. Reserve your tickets now by clicking here.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Jan. 4, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Chattanooga (9-5) at Mercer (6-9)
Location: Macon, Ma. | Hawkins Arena
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Radio: 100.9 The Creek FM and SportsMic – Rick Cameron
TV: ESPN3
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Mercer trails the all-time series, 40-39
• Current Streak: W1
• Last Meeting: W, 74-69 (Feb. 23, 2019)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball returns to Southern Conference action on Saturday, Jan. 4 when they host Chattanooga. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3 and 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE MOCS
Chattanooga enters the contest against the Bears with a 9-5 overall record and a mark of 0-1 in the SoCon… The Mocs are coming off a 72-42 win over Cumberland (Tenn.) on Dec. 29^th… Chattanooga has won three straight contents, which includes wins over Troy and UNC Asheville… Chattanooga is averaging 70.4 points per game and is shooting 43.3 percent from the floor…. Opponents are scoring 66.1 points per game and shooting 43.6 percent against the Mocs... Matt Ryan leads the Mocs in scoring as he is averaging 14.3 points per game. He is shooting 32.7 percent on three-pointers this season… Chattanooga is making 8.4 three-pointers per game… Ryan leads the team with 35 made three-pointers on the season… David Jean-Baptiste is second on the team in scoring averaging 13.0 points per game... The Mocs are outrebounding its opponents on the season by 1.3 rebounds per game… Chattanooga is forcing opponents into 14.0 turnovers per game… The Mocs are led by Lamont Paris, who is in his third year at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT
The last time the Bears took to the court was Wednesday, Jan. 1 at UNCG. Against the seventh-ranked team in the College Insider MidMajor Top 25, the Bears found themselves down by 18 points, 43-25, at halftime. However, a strong second half, Mercer mounted a comeback and trimmed the Spartans lead down to three, on multiple times, but could not complete the comeback and were defeated 72-63. The Bears shot 53.2 percent from the floor, the second-highest percentage of the season. Ethan Stair led the Bears with 18 points and Djordje Dimitrijevic followed with 17 points. Mercer outrebounded the Spartans 35-31 in the contest. Mercer was six-of-ten on three-pointers.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR THE BEARS
After only picking up four double-doubles during the 2018-19 season, the Bears have recorded 11 double-doubles this season. Four different players have recorded a double-double this season. Below are the Bears that have recorded double-doubles. Ethan Stair leads the way with seven double-doubles. Maciej Bender, Djordje Dimitrijevic and Victor Bafutto's were the first of their career.

Name                                    Double-Doubles               Last Double-Double
Ethan Stair 7 12/28/19 vs. Milligan
Maciej Bender 2 12/20/19 vs. Furman
Djordje Dimitrijevic 1 11/11/19 vs. Kennesaw State
Victor Bafutto 1 12/28/19 vs. Milligan

MERCER vs. CHATTANOOGA
The Bears and Mocs will meet for the 80^th time on Saturday afternoon in Hawkins Arena. The Mocs hold a one game advantage over the Bears, 40-39. Mercer won the last matchup last Feb. 23, 2019. However, the first matchup between these two schools came during the 1921-22 season. Chattanooga came away with a 21-18 victory over the Bears in the first meeting. Mercer came back that season and defeated Chattanooga twice, including a victory in the SIAA-SIC Tournament.

STAIR EARNS HOOPSHD.COM HONORS
The end of the calendar year means that is time to recognize the best players in college basketball. Jon Teitel of HoopsHD received all the numbers and announced his five best players from the Southern Conference. Ethan Stair was named one of the best five players in the Southern Conference. Over the Bears 14 games in 2019, Stair averaged 17.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He collected seven double-doubles over the Bears first 14 games. Against Georgia Southern on Nov. 19, Stair scored a career-high 28 points. On Dec. 16, Stair collected a career-high 16 rebounds.

HOW MANY STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A THREE?
Eight SoCon student-athletes have streaks of at least 10 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears Ross Cummings and Djordje Dimitrijevic has made a three-pointer in 13 straight games. Cummings and Dimitrijevic are tied for the fourth-longest straight in the SoCon. The SoCon leader for consecutive games hitting a three-pointer is Brandon Allen of Samford. He is currently at 17 straight games hitting a three-pointer.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Brandon Austin (Samford)           17
Kamdyn Curfman (VMI)                15
Clay Mounce (Furman)                  14
Ross Cummings (Mercer)             13
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)      13
Alex Hunter (Furman)                    13
Kaiden Rice (The Citadel)              12
Matt Halvorsen (WCU)                  11

MERCERS LAST WIN OVER CHATTANOOGA
The last win for the Bears over the Mocs came on Feb. 23, 2019. This was the last meeting between the two schools. In the contest, Ross Cummings scored a career-high 37 points leading the Bears to a come from behind 79-69 victory. Cummings connected on 12 of 22 field goals, including eight of 14 three-pointers, and was five of seven from the free-throw line. Mercer outscored the Mocs 40-27 in the second half and ended the game on a 24-13 run.

HIGHEST SHOOTING PERCENTAGES THIS SEASON
The Bears shot 53.2 percent from the floor on Wednesday against the Spartans. This was the second-highest percentage of the season. Mercer has had four games shooting over 50.0 percent on the season. The top four shooting performances of the season for the Bears are listed below:

Date      Opponent                           Percentage
11/15     vs. FGCU                              53.3
1/1         vs. UNCG                             53.2
11/19     at Georgia Southern       52.5
12/28     vs. Milligan                          51.9

LAST WIN IN THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
On Saturday, the Bears will look to break a five-game losing skid against Southern Conference opponents. The last Southern Conference opponent the Bears beat was Chattanooga, 74-69, on Feb. 23, 2019.

LOOKING TO JOIN 1,000-POINT CLUB
Both Ross Cummings and Ethan Stair are closing into on becoming the Bears 41st and 42nd 1,000-career scores in Mercer History. Which player will be the first to score 1,000 points? Cummings has scored 860 points in his career that spans 79 games, while Stair has scored 966 points in 99 games. Sitting in 40th on the 1,000-point club for Mercer is Dartez Talbott who scored 1,014 points in his career at Mercer, which stretched from the 1979-81 seasons. James Florence, who played for the Bears from 2006-10, is the all-time leading scorer as he scored 2,286 points. Florence is the only 2,000-point scorers in Mercer history. The list of players that Cummings and Stair are looking to catch is below.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 36-40)
                Rk.         Name                    Pts
                36           Will Emerson     1,050
                T37         Jim Hearn            1,034
                T37         Reggie Elliott      1,034
                38           Rodney Kirtz       1,025
                39           Donnie Veal        1,023
                40           Dartez Talbott   1,014
                                Ethan Stair          966
                                Ross Cummings 860

HITTING THREES
Ross Cummings is closing in on the 1,000-point club but he is also climbing up the Mercer record books for made three-point field goals. During his junior season, Cummings hit 101 three-pointers, becoming only the second Mercer Bear to make 100 or more threes in a season. Prior to his junior year, the most threes Cumming hit in a season was 57. For his career, he has hit 173 career three-pointers. He is 17 three-pointers away from tying for third all-time at Mercer. Below are the top five all-time leaders for Mercer for three-point field goals made. With his 173 made three-pointers, he is number three on the SoCon active career leader list.

3-Point Field Goals Made (Career)
                Name                   3-FGM Years
1.            Langston Hall      256         2010-14
2.            James Florence 242         2006-10
3.            E.J. Kusnyer        190         2008-10
4.            Ross Cummings 173         2016-Present
5.            Bud Thomas       161         2010-14

GREG GARY COACH'S SHOW
The Greg Gary Coach's Show is underway from Margaritas in Mercer Village. The 11-edition show will be streamed on Sportsmic Radio and the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page. The show is aired from Margaritas in Mercer Village from 6 to 7 p.m. Starting Jan. 6^th, the Coach's Show of the year will run weekly.

SoCON CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2020 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship presented by General Shale will be held March 6-9 at Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina. The 2020 edition of the tournament is the 100th for the nation's oldest collegiate conference basketball tournament.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C. to face Western Carolina. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

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.

Men’s Basketball Hosts Chattanooga on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Victor Bafutto

Maciej Bender

Ross Cummings

Djordje Dimitrijevic

Ethan Stair

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