Strong Second Half Leads Bears to 70-68 Victory Over Wofford

Wednesday, February 12

Spartanburg, S.C.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

13-13,7-6SoCon

Wofford

16-10,8-5SoCon

Mercer

Wofford

Photo by: Ben Murray

Strong Second Half Leads Bears to 70-68 Victory Over Wofford

2/12/2020 10:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Balanced scoring lifts Bears over Terriers

By: Travis Rae

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Mercer men's basketball team used a strong second half to overcome a five-point deficit to earn a 70-68 victory over Wofford on Wednesday evening.

The win for the Bears (13-13, 7-6 SoCon) was their 13th of the season. Maciej Bender led Mercer with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Djordje Dimitrijevic followed with 17 points and Ethan Stair and Jeff Gary rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points each.

The Bears' defensive pressure limited the Terriers (16-10, 8-5 SoCon) to 8-of-31 shooting on three-pointers. This was Wofford's third-lowest percentage on the season.

Over the first four minutes of the contest, the Bears struggled to get the offense going as they were limited to just four points. After a Victor Bafutto layup, the Bears were within three, 9-6, but the Terriers slowly extended their lead to 13-6.

Wofford continued to grow its advantage, and the Terriers stretched the lead to nine multiple times in the first half. The lead grew to as many as 10, 31-21, before the Bears started chipping away. A three-pointer by Dimitrijevic with 1:06 to go before halftime put Mercer within six, 35-29. The Bears had the lead down to three, but the Terriers responed, pushing their advantage to five, 37-32, heading into halftime.

Mercer continued to trim the Terriers lead down and following a Bender dunk to open the second half, Mercer trailed by three, 37-34. The Bears continued to pressure Wofford and after an old-fashioned three-point play by Bender, Mercer trailed by two, 44-42.

Three minutes later, the Bears took the lead after a free throw by Kamar Robertson. Dimitrijevic followed with a three-pointer, and Mercer had a four-point lead, 48-44, with 12:26 remaining in the game. The lead did not last long as Wofford answered back and tied the game at 48.

After trading baskets, Mercer held a two-point lead, 57-55, which grew to five, 60-55, after a Jeff Gary three. The Bears continued to hold onto the lead until Donovan Theme-Love hit a three, tying the game at 65.

Over the final three minutes of the game, the Bears pulled away from the Terriers, scoring five straight points, capped by a pair of free throws by Stair. The Bears earned their 13th win of the season with a 70-68 victory over Wofford.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary
YOU'RE DOWN 10 POINTS WITH 3:47 TO GO IN THE FIRST HALF. YOU WANTED GRIT, FIGHT AND DETERMINATION. YOU GOT IT THIS EVENING FROM THE BEARS.
"There's no question we did. I'm very happy for the team and proud of them. We were getting good shots in the first half. We were moving, screening and doing good things. I told them, 'those shots are going to fall. Keep doing what you're doing.' We had to change how we covered (Chevez) Goodwin. I thought our guards did a good job of staying on (Nathan) Hoover and (Storm) Murphy. We were picking them up and staying physical on them."

ON MACIEJ'S HIGH PERCENTAGE'S SHOTS AND BEING ONE POINT OFF A CAREER-HIGH.
"We did a good job of executing. It was good for him to be down there (on the block) earlier so he didn't have to make a post move. You get him on the move, he's got good size, so he'll catch the ball and finished. I was proud of him."

ON THE DEFENSIVE PLAYS DOWN THE STRETCH.
"That's how you finish these games. You have to have some luck. You also have to get stops. We did that. I was proud of Ethan (Stair). He didn't have a good shooting night, but he made his free throws and that's not easy to do. Jeff (Gary) had a great steal late. It was big play by him to be heads up. I thought we did a great job of keeping our poise, executing down the stretch and hitting our free throws."

NOTABLES

Dimitrijevic shot 50 percent (3-for-6) on three-pointers in the contest. He now has hit a three in 23 straight games, the longest active streak in the SoCon.
Maciej Bender finished one point shy of tying his career-high. He finished the night with 18 points and nine rebounds.
The Bears locked down on the defensive end and limited Wofford to 25.8 percent on three-point shots. This was the third-worst shooting performance of the season for the Terriers.
Mercer committed seven turnovers in the contest, the fewest in a game this season.
Four different players scored in double-figures for the Bears. Bender led the way with 18 points.
The Bears collected 16 assists on 24 made field goals against the Terriers.
32 of the Bears 70 points were scored in the paint.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday when they host UNCG in Southern Conference play. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.

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.