Bears Head to Georgia Southern for Sunday Contest

MACON, Ga. – After a week off, the Mercer Bears will return to action on Sunday night at Georgia Southern. The contest marks the first of back-to-back in-state road games for the Bears.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Sunday, Dec. 13 | 6:00 p.m.
Matchup: Mercer (5-0, 0-0 SoCon) at Georgia Southern (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Location: Statesboro, Ga. | Hanner Fieldhouse
Live Stats: bit.ly/2KfMDwq
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
Game Notes: Mercer

SERIES HISTORY
This is the 111th meeting between the two teams. Georgia Southern holds the advantage in the series, 69-41.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
After winning their first three games under new head coach Brian Burg, the Eagles are coming off a 32-point loss to Davidson, 77-45, on Friday night. It will be a quick turnaround for GSU as it has less than 48 hours to prepare for the Bears. Zack Bryant scored more than a third of Georgia Southern's points in the loss, contributing 16. He leads the team with an average of 16.0 points per game and is one of four Eagles to average double figures.

CUMMINGS CLIMBING THE SCORING RANKS
Ross Cummings is only 66 points away from joining the 1,000-point club. In Sunday's win over Southern Wesleyan, he contributed a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, which included six three-pointers. In time at Mercer, Cummings has racked up 910 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 934

CUMMINGS TIES KUSNYER IN THE RECORD BOOKS
The sharpshooting Cummings is 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 tied for third with Cummings. Kusnyer set Mercer's single-season record of 107 in 2009-10. Cummings need just one more three-pointer for sole possession of third all-time.

Rk.       Name                          3's
1          Langston Hall 256
2.         James Florence 242
T3.       Ross Cummings       190
T3.       E.J. Kusnyer 190
5.         Bud Thomas 161

COMIN' IN HOT: BEARS RANKED IN COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR POLL
Thanks to a 3-0 week last week with wins over Georgia State (then No. 6 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll), Columbia International and Southern Wesleyan, the Bears are now ranked in the top-25 of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25, debuting at 11. Furman (No. 2) is the only Southern Conference school ahead of the Bears. Below are the Southern Conference teams in the poll.

Rk.       School             Points
2.         Furman 718
11. Mercer 381
16.       UNCG 211
RV.       ETSU 10
RV. Chattanooga 7
RV.       Wofford 4
RV. WCU 1

AYERS III CONTRIBUTING OFF THE BENCH
In each of Mercer's five games, Leon Ayers has come off the bench, and in four of those five games, Ayers III has led the Bears in scoring.

Date                Opponent                   Points
Nov. 25            North Georgia*            15
Nov. 27            at Georgia Tech           7
Nov. 30            Georgia State*             17
Dec. 5             Columbia Int'l* *16
Dec. 6              Southern Wesleyan* 11
*Denotes leading bench scorer

FROM DOWNTOWN!
Three SoCon student-athletes, two of whom wear the Orange & Black, have streaks of at least 10 consecutive games with a made three-pointer. The Citadel's Fletcher Abee and his 21-game streak lead the way. Cummings and Gary are the other student-athletes to accomplish the feat, having hit one in 18 and 13 straight games respectively.

Player              School            20-21   19-20   18-19   Tot.
Fletcher Abee CIT 5 18 X          23
Ross Cummings MU 5 6 7          18
Jeff Gary    MU 5   8 X          13

ON A ROLL: THE BEARS ARE 5-0 FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1966-67
Mercer improved to 5-0 on Sunday for the first time since the 1966-67 campaign. The '66-67 squad started the year with seven consecutive wins, which are listed below. Thus far this season, Mercer has defeated North Georgia (79-48), Georgia Tech (83-73), Georgia State (86-69), Columbia International (88-62) and Southern Wesleyan (96-85).

1966-67 Season Start
Date    Opponent                   Result
Dec. 1 at West Georgia W, 99-67
Dec. 3 Fla. Presbyterian W, 94-75
Dec. 7 LaGrange W, 71-67
Jan. 7 Stetson W, 76-71
Jan. 9 Florida Southern       W, 81-69
Jan. 14 Wilmington W, 93-70
Jan. 16 Georgia State W, 97-70

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.

Bears Head to Georgia Southern for Sunday Contest

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Players Mentioned

Ross Cummings

Jeff Gary

Ethan Stair

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