Cummings Reaches Milestones in Loss to Wofford

Tuesday, December 29

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

7-2,0-1SoCon

Wofford

4-3,1-0SoCon

Wofford

Mercer

Photo by: Kayla Davis

Cummings Reaches Milestones in Loss to Wofford

12/29/2020 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The redshirt senior surpassed 1,000 points and 200 career three-pointers.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – Ross Cummings surpassed 1,000 career points and 200 career made three-pointers, but his 21-point night was not enough as the Bears fell to the Wofford Terriers, 78-65, to open Southern Conference play.

Mercer (7-2, 0-1 SoCon) got off to a slow start, finding itself down 11 less than eight minutes into the contest. A B.J. Mack dunk extended Wofford's advantage to 13, and the Terriers led by as many as 16, 30-14, before the Bears began to claw their way back into the contest.

Cummings' three-pointer with 6:06 left in the first half began a 7-0 run which cut Wofford's lead to nine with one second more than five minutes remaining. Maciej Bender and Jeff Gary also contributed a basket during the run. Mercer would ultimately get as close as four, 35-31, prior to the intermission. Cummings scored five of eight points in the Bears' final run of the half, but Wofford took a 41-33 advantage into the locker room.

A 6-0 Bears spurt to open the second half, capped by a Bender dunk, made it a one-basket contest only 1:22 into final half. Wofford (4-3, 1-0 SoCon) regained its composure, however, extending its lead back to 11 thanks to Sam Godwin's layup with 12:49 remaining.

A solid offensive attack courtesy of Cummings and Felipe Haase allowed the Bears to get as close as four – first off Haase's layup with 6:53 to play and again when Leon Ayers III found Cummings cutting through the lane for a layup, which gave him 1,001 career points.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they were unable to capitalize on it being a two-possession contest. Wofford ended the game on an 18-9 run. All nine of Mercer's points during the Terriers' late run came from beyond the arc. Cummings connected for his last of five three-point field goals with 3:04 to play, and Ayers III helped the Orange & Black close out the contest on a 6-0 run with back-to-back treys in the final 36 seconds of play.

Cummings, who now has 1,004 points and 202 three-pointers to his credit, led all scorers with 21 points. He made 7-of-12 tries (58.3 percent) from the field in the loss. Ayers III contributed 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting and grabbed six boards while dishing out three assists. Mercer shot a cool 25-of-63 (39.7 percent) from the floor and made 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) three-pointers.

The Terriers were led by Storm Murphy's 16 points. Along with Cummings, Murphy also surpassed 1,000 career points. Murphy was 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from the field but missed all six of his three-point tries. Ryan Larson and Tray Hollowell each contributed 13 points for Wofford. The Terriers shot a hot 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the second half and made 32-of-68 (47.1 percent) tries on the night. Wofford held a 43-37 advantage on the glass.

Coach Greg Gary Quotables

ON THE GAME
"Give Wofford credit; they took it right to us and were more physical and tougher than we were. That was embarrassing on our end. Wofford's guys had a lot to do with that. They were focused and ready to do their jobs. They carried out their assignments."

ON WOFFORD'S BALANCED ATTACK
"We knew it would be like that, but again, give Wofford credit. Their guys did what they were supposed to do."

NOTABLES

Cummings surpassed 1,000 career points and now has 1,0004 for his career.
The Dickson, Tenn. native entered the night with 197 made three-pointers for his career and surpassed 200, extending his total to 202.
Cummings' 21 points gives Mercer a 20-plus point scorer in two of the last three games.
Cummings has scored 20 or more points in three of the Bears' nine games.
Ayers III's 15 points placed him in double figures for the sixth time in Mercer's last seven contests.
Gary struggled from the floor but dished out five assists.
In each of the Bears' nine games the team has recorded at least 15 assists.

UP NEXT
The Bears will travel to Furman for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Rick Cameron on the call for the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek and SportsMic).

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.