Mercer Readies for Road Trip to Georgia Tech

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel up I-75 to Atlanta to battle the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Bears and Yellow Jackets last met during the 2011-12 season. That matchup also took place during the holidays with the Mercer defeating Georgia Tech prior to Christmas.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 | 8:00 p.m.
Matchup: Mercer (1-0) at Georgia Tech (1-0)
Location: Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish
Live Stats: bit.ly/39h7euI
Live Video: Fox Sports South, ACCNX
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Georgia Tech

SERIES HISTORY
This is the 45th meeting between the two teams and first since December 2011. Georgia Tech holds a 28-16 advantage.

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
Head coach Josh Pastner has worked to turn the Yellow Jackets into an ACC contender. The contest with Mercer marks the second game of the Georgia Tech Invitational, a multi-team event featuring Tech, Mercer and Georgia State. Tech dropped its season opener, 123-120, to Georgia State in four overtimes. Leading the way for all scorers was the Yellow Jackets' was Moses Wright with 31 points. Wright turned in a double-double with 31 points and 20 rebounds. He played 53 shots and shot 8-of-18 from the floor to go along with 14-of-22 from the charity stripe. Jose Alvarado ended the night one point shy of the 30-point mark while Michael Devoe (24), Bubba Parham (16) and Jordan Usher (15) also reached double figures. In addition to Wright, Devoe recorded a double-double in the loss.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bears started the season on Wednesday with a contest against the North Georgia Nighthawks. The Nighthawks compete in the NCAA Division II ranks. Mercer ran away with a 79-48 victory and placed four players in double figures. Ross Cummings (15 points) returned to the court after missing much of last season with a foot injury. Neftali Alvarez (15), Leon Ayers III (15) and Maciej Bender (14) also scored in double figures. Felipe Haase grabbed a career-best 15 boards and also contributed eight points in the win.

CUMMINGS NEARING RECORDS
Ross Cummings is only 125 points away from joining the 1,000-point club. In his four years at Mercer, Cummings has racked up 875 points; 538 came his junior year. The last Bear to join the 1,000 point club was Ethan Stair. Stair joined the club last season on Jan. 28 at Samford. The all-time leading scorer is James Florence. Florence played for the Bears from 2006-10 and tallied 2,286 points in his career.

1,000 Point Scorers
Rk.       Name                          Pts.
T38.     Jim Hearn                    1,034
T38.     Reggie Elliott 1,034
40.       Rodney Kirtz 1,025
41.       Donnie Veal 1,023
42.       Dartez Talbott 1,014
            Ross Cummings 875

The sharpshooting Cummings is also nearing Mercer's all-time three-pointers made record, currently held by fan-favorite Langston Hall. Hall, who led the Bears to a stunning upset of No. 3 Duke in the NCAA Tournament in 2014, knocked down 256 treys. James Florence, the Bears' all-time leading scorer knocked down 242 shots from beyond the arc. E.J. Kusnyer (190) sits third. Kusnyer set Mercer's single-season record of 107 in 2009-10. Cummings is fourth with 173 triples.

Rk.       Name                          3's
1          Langston Hall              256
2.         James Florence 242
3.         E.J. Kusnyer 190
4.         Ross Cummings        176
5.         Bud Thomas 161

MERCER VS. IN-STATE OPPONENTS
Mercer will face-off against in-state opponents seven times this season. The Bears all-time record against these in-state opponents is 147-143. Below is Mercer's record against this year's opponents from the state of Georgia. The Bears battled North Georgia (Nov. 25) and will also take on Georgia Tech (Nov. 27), Georgia State (Nov. 30, Dec. 16), Middle Georgia State (Dec. 6), Georgia Southern (Dec. 13), Georgia Southwestern State (Dec. 19) and Kennesaw State (Dec. 22).

Team                                       Record
North Georgia                          21-1
Georgia Tech                           16-28
Georgia State                          46-38
Middle Georgia State 2-0
Georgia Southern 41-69
Georgia Southwestern St.    4-1
Kennesaw State                      17-6

NOTABLE WINS VS. P5 SCHOOLS
Over the last 10 years, Mercer has stunned several Power-5 foes on the court. The Bears' most notable win was during the 2014 NCAA Tournament when Mercer upset No.3 Duke, 78-71, to advance to the second round of the tournament.

Date    Opponent                 Result
12/22/11 at Georgia Tech W, 65-59
12/22/12 at Alabama W, 66-59
3/20/13   at Tennessee W, 75-67
12/22/13 at Mississippi W, 79-76
3/21/14    Duke W, 78-71
12/19/15 at Arkansas W,69-66(OT)

DEPTH IS KEY
In preseason interviews, Greg Gary harped on depth and mentioned multiple times how his second Mercer squad is much deeper than the first. That statement proved true in Wednesday's victory as 11 players saw the court. Of the 11, nine student-athletes played more than 10 minutes and six of the 11 scored at least six points.

Player.................. Minutes
Gary.......................... 29:16
Haase....................... 27:24
Cummings............27:01
Alvarez......................25:24
Ayers III.....................23:11
Bender......................18:01
Greco........................ 17:42
Grant......................... 14:47
Glisson III.................10:34

THE TRAVELING BEARS
Despite struggling on the road in recent seasons, the Bears turned things around in 2019-20, putting together an 8-6 record at true road sites. One of the highlights of Mercer's time on the road last season was a 71-55 victory in Johnson City, Tenn against ETSU. Mercer was the only squad to knock off ETSU on it's home floor. Beginning Friday with Georgia Tech, the Bears are scheduled to play five non-conference road games - at Georgia Tech (Nov. 27), at Elon (Dec. 6), at Georgia Southern (Dec. 13), at Georgia State (Dec. 16) and at Kennesaw State (Dec. 22). Due to a schedule adjustment, the Bears will now open SoCon play on the road at VMI (Dec. 10).

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.

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Players Mentioned

Neftali Alvarez

Leon Ayers III

Maciej Bender

Ross Cummings

Felipe Haase

Ethan Stair

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