Bears to Travel to Georgia State Wednesday

MACON, Ga. – The Bears will head to Georgia State on Wednesday night for a rematch with the Panthers. Mercer won the first meeting this season, 86-69, in Macon on Nov. 30.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 16 | 6:00 p.m.
Matchup: Mercer (6-0, 0-0 SoCon) at Georgia State (3-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Location: Atlanta, Ga. | GSU Sports Arena
Live Stats: bit.ly/389b0UH
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Georgia State

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer leads the series, 47-38 heading into Wednesday's contest.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Panthers have played just once since their loss to the Bears on Nov. 30, topping the Charlotte 49ers, 76-65, on Dec. 4. Kane Williams led the Panthers with 21 points in the victory while JoJo Toppin was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe for 16 points. Williams, Justin Roberts and Corey Allen all average 15.5 points per game to pace the Panthers.

CUMMINGS CLIMBING THE SCORING RANKS
Ross Cummings is only 44 points away from joining the 1,000-point club. In Sunday's win at Georgia State, he hit the 20-point mark. 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 956

CUMMINGS PASSES 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. Thanks to four three-pointers in Sunday night's win, Cummings has sole possession of third all-time on the list. 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
3.         Ross Cummings 194
4.         E.J. Kusnyer 190
5.         Bud Thomas 61

MERCER VS. IN-STATE OPPONENTS IN 2020-21
Mercer will face-off against in-state opponents seven times this season. The Bears all-time record against these in-state opponents is 148-143. Below is Mercer's record against this year's opponents from the state of Georgia. The Bears have battled North Georgia (Nov. 25) Georgia Tech (Nov. 27), Ga. State (Nov. 30) and Georgia Southern (Dec. 13). Mercer has three in-state games remaining - Georgia State (Dec. 16), Georgia Southwestern State (Dec. 19) and Kennesaw State (Dec. 22).

Team                                       Record
North Georgia                         21-1
Georgia Tech                           17-28
Georgia State                          47-38
Georgia Southern                  42-69
Georgia Southwestern St. 4-1
Kennesaw State 17-6

CLIMBING THE RANKS
After a thrilling win at Georgia Southern, the Bears found themselves inside the top-10 of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, moving up to No. 7 on Monday night. Furman (No. 3) is the only Southern Conference school ahead of the Bears. Below are the Southern Conference teams in the poll.

Rk.       School            Points
3.         Furman 699
7.         Mercer 513
25 Chattanooga 93
RV. WCU                 54
RV.       UNCG 19
RV.       Samford 1

ALVAREZ PACING THE SOCON IN ASSISTS
Neftali Alvarez is currently leading the Southern Conference in assists at 6.8 assists per contest (as of publication date)

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

Date                Opponent                   Points
Nov. 25            North Georgia*            15
Nov. 27            at Georgia Tech           7
Nov. 30            Georgia State*             17
Dec. 5             CIU*                                16
Dec. 6             SWU*                             11
Dec. 13            at Georgia Southern 10
*Denotes leading bench scorer

THREE-POINT STREAKS
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     6 6         7 19
Jeff Gary MU 6          8          X 14

STAYING HOT: BEARS CAN TIE '66-67 SQUAD WITH WIN WEDNESDAY
Mercer improved to 6-0 on Sunday with a 77-75 win at Georgia Southern. The '66-67 squad started the year with seven consecutive wins, which are listed below.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Neftali Alvarez

Leon Ayers III

Ross Cummings

Jeff Gary

Ethan Stair

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