Men’s Basketball Falls to UNCG

Saturday, February 15

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

13-14,7-7SoCon

UNCG

21-6,11-3SoCon

Team	1	2	F
UNC Greensboro	29	38	67
Mercer	22	33	55

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

2/15/2020 9:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Stair picks up his tenth double-double of the season

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – Senior Ethan Stair picked up his tenth double-double of the season as he scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds, but it was not enough as the Mercer men's basketball team was defeated by UNCG, 67-55.

The 16 points and 11 rebounds by Stair led the Bears on the evening. Jeff Gary followed with 14 points, as he hit a career-high four three-pointers, rounding out the double-figure scorers for the Bears.

On the Bears first possession of the contest, Maciej Bender had a monster dunk putting the Bears ahead 2-0. Following the dunk, Mercer did not hit a field goal for the next five minutes and only scored one point as UNCG took an 8-3 lead.

After the Bears hit another field goal, a layup by Kamar Robertson, the Bears offense again went scoreless for three minutes. During the Bears cold stretch, UNCG was unable to increase its lead. After a Daniel Love layup, Mercer trailed just 10-7 midway through the first half.

Mercer came back and tied the game before the Spartans stretched its lead to seven at 21-14. The Black and Orange cut the lead down to four, but UNCG once again increased the lead back to seven points. Mercer trailed by seven, 29-22, heading to halftime.

After halftime, the Spartans went on a 9-3 run increasing their lead to 13 points, 38-25, after a three-pointer by Kaleb Hunter. Mercer trimmed the lead down to eight points, before the Spartans stretched it back to double-figures.

Holding onto a double-digit lead, the Spartans started heating up on the offensive end of the floor. After hitting back-to-back three-pointers, UNCG saw its lead grow to 16, 54-38. Mercer trailed by as many as 18 in the second half before they started trimming the lead.

Over the final 3:30 of the contest, Mercer went on a 9-3 run and trimmed the Spartans lead down to 12, which would be the final margin.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "We had way too many turnovers again, and that leads to easy points. We worked a lot against the press, and we didn't do what we were supposed to do. When you don't execute against a very good team, this could happen."

NOTABLES

Ethan Stair recorded his 10th double-double of the season. His ten are the second-most in the conference.
Djordje Dimitrijevic hit a three-pointer in his 24th straight contest. This is the longest active streak in the Southern Conference.
Mercer struggled from behind the arc as they shot 7-for-30 on three-pointers.
Jeff Gary hit a career-high four three-pointers in the contest against UNCG.
Mercer picked up 17 assists on 23 made baskets.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 19 when they host Samford at Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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.