Bears to Host Wofford on ESPNU Tuesday Night

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears are back in the friendly confines of Hawkins Arena on Tuesday night for a nationally televised contest (ESPNU) against the Wofford Terriers at 7 p.m.
Fans can also use code MUPACK to purchase a New Year's four-pack of tickets for only $21. Fans wishing to secure their seats for all nine Southern Conference games in Hawkins Arena can do so with a partial season ticket plan for just $100. Fans can also bring a toy to donate in support of the Merrie Christmas Project and recevie a free ticket to Tuesday's game.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020 | 7:00 p.m.
Matchup: Wofford (3-3) at Mercer (7-1)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Tickets: bit.ly/3a7st2F
Live Stats: bit.ly/3mVb7c2
Live Video: ESPNU
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Hawkins Arena Protocols: Click Here
Promotion: New Year, New Me
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
Game Notes: Mercer

TODAY'S GAME/LAST TIME OUT
Overcoming a slow start, the Bears used a strong second half to top the Kennesaw State Owls, 81-71, on Tuesday, Dec. 22. Maciej Bender led all scorers with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting. The Warsaw, Poland native hit his first three shots from the floor and set a new career-high in points (21) and field goals made (10). Bender was one of five Bears in double figures. Ross Cummings and Leon Ayers III each contributed 15 points with all of Cummings' points coming in the second half. Felipe Haase and Neftali Alvarez also reached double figures.

ABOUT THE TERRIERS
Wofford is coming off a 70-52 loss to Texas A&M and is 3-3 on the season. Jay Mcauley is in his second season at the helm and is 22-19 overall. The Terriers are led by Storm Murphy's 17.5 points per game. Murphy is shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc. The Terriers have picked up two of their three wins on the season against non-Division I opponents - Toccoa Falls and Carver College - while defeating NCAA Division I foe Coastal Carolina for thelone win over a D1 foe.

SERIES HISTORY
Wofford holds a 23-28 advantage in the series heading into Tuesday's meeting on national television, the 52nd between the two squads. Mercer is 2-0 vs. the Terriers in the Greg Gary era.

LAST TIME OUT: BENDER LEADS BEARS OVER KSU
Maciej Bender had an afternoon to remember inside Kennesaw State's Convocation Center. His career-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting led the Mercer Bears past the Owls, 81-71, on Tuesday afternoon. Despite a scoreless opening half, Cummings contributed 15 points. Ayers III also scored 15 points while Haase recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Alvarez was the fifth and final Bear reached double figures with 10 points. The Bears shot 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) on the night but struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on only 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) tries. Mercer missed just four shots from the charity stripe while making 16 for an 80 percent showing. The Bears will enter Southern Conference play with a 7-1 record. Mercer's seven wins entering league action are the most since 2015-16. The 2015-16 team won 10 games prior to the start of SoCon play.

CUMMINGS CLIMBING THE SCORING RANKS
Ross Cummings is only 17 points away from joining the 1,000-point club. In time at Mercer, Cummings has racked up 983 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          983

CUMMINGS CAN HIT THE THREE! JUST CHECK 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 against Ga. Southern (Dec. 13), Cummings has sole possession of third all-time on the list. Kusnyer set Mercer's
single-season record of 107 in 2009-10.

Rk.       Name                          3's
1          Langston Hall              256
2.         James Florence          242
3.         Ross Cummings 197
4.         E.J. Kusnyer 190
5.         Bud Thomas                161

MERCER VS. IN-STATE OPPONENTS IN 2020-21
Mercer faced off against in-state opponents six times in non-conference play. The Bears all-time record against these in-state opponents is 145-143. Below is a recap of how Mercer faired against in-state foes this season.

Date                Opponent                    Result
11/25/20          North Georgia              W, 79-48
11/27/20          at Georgia Tech           W, 83-73
11/30/20          Georgia State              W, 86-69
12/13/20          at Georgia Southern  W, 77-75
12/16/20          at Georgia State          L, 88-81
12/22/20          at Kennesaw State W, 81-71

The Bears went a perfect 2-0 at home against in-state foes, topping North Georgia and Georgia State. The Bears were 3-1 on the road with a big win over Power-5 Georgia Tech and a thrilling, 77-75, a comeback win at Georgia Southern in which Neftali Alvarez hit the game-winning layup off a pass from Jeff Gary and a 10-point victory at KSU.

CLIMBING THE MID-MAJOR RANKINGS
The Bears have now been ranked in the top-10 of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll for two consecutive weeks. The Bears debuted at No. 7 (Dec. 14) and now sit 10th (Dec. 21). Below are the SoCon schools featured in the poll as of the Dec. 21 release.

Rk.       School             Points
5.         Furman            588
10.       Mercer              459
16        Chattanooga   279
RV.      WCU              13
RV.      UNCG                  6
RV.       The Citadel       1

ALVAREZ AND GARY LEND A HELPING HAND
Neftali Alvarez is currently leading the Southern Conference in assists at 5.8 assists per contest while Jeff Gary (4.0) is tied for fifth (as of publication date). Below are the top-five leaders in the Southern Conference.

Name              School Games Assists Assists/Game
Neftali Alvarez MER   8          46 5.8
M.Faulkner        WCU 7          34 4.9
Storm Murphy WOF  6 28 4 .7
David Sloan       ETSU 8 33 4.1
Mike Bothwell FUR   9 36        4.0
Jeff Gary MER 8 32 4.0

AYERS III CONTRIBUTING OFF THE BENCH
In each of Mercer's eight games, Leon Ayers III has come off the bench, and in six of those games, Ayers III has led the Bears in scoring. He has reached double figures in six games. Below is each game that he has been the highest scoring reserve

Date                 Opponent                    Points
Nov. 25            North Georgia             15
Nov. 30            Georgia State              17
Dec. 5 CIU                                 16
Dec. 6             Southern Wesleyan   11
Dec. 13            at Georgia State          7
Dec. 22            at Kennesaw State    22

THREE-POINT STREAKS
Ross Cummings is one of two SoCon men's basketball student-athletes to have a streak of 20+ games with a made three-pointer.

Player              School             20-21   19-20   18-19   Tot.
Fletcher Abee The Citadel      7          18        X          25
Ross Cummings Mercer          8          6          7          21

HAASE HITS THE BOARDS
Felipe Haase has made a difference on the glass for Mercer this season. Below is where he ranks among the SoCon's leaders in rebounding

Rk.       Category                Avg.
2.         Rebounds/Gm         10.4
2.         Def.Rebounds/Gm   8.3
T-10      Off.Rebounds/Gm   2.1

HOME SWEET HOME
Hawkins Arena has been kind to the Bears in recent years. Each of the past two seasons, Mercer has gone 9-6 on their home floor. In 2017-18, the Bears were 11-3 inside Hawkins Arena. Below is Mercer's record at home since the 2016-17 campaign. Mercer is 41-22 at home since that campaign.

Season          Record
2016-17            8-7
2017-18            11-3
2018-19            9-6
2019-20 9-6
2020-21 4-0
Total                41-22

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

Jeff Gary

Felipe Haase

Ethan Stair

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