Mercer Hosts Samford in Midweek SoCon Tilt

Wednesday, February 19

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

Samford

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Photo by: Judy Stapleton

2/18/2020 2:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes

The Bears and Bulldogs square off on Wednesday night in Hawkins Arena

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday night when they host Samford in a midweek Southern Conference tilt. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.

At the game Wednesday night, one lucky fan will win a free trip to Disney World for a family of four! Fans can sign up by clicking here. You must be present to win.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Feb. 19, 2020 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Samford (9-19, 3-11 SoCon) at Mercer (13-14, 7-7 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/LiveStats
Radio: 100.9 The Creek FM and SportsMic – Rick Cameron
TV: ESPN+
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

SERIES HISTORY
• Overall: Mercer leads the all-time series, 70-45
• Current Streak: W13
• Last Meeting: W, 90-75 (Jan. 18, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
The Mercer men's basketball team returns to Hawkins Arena to face Samford on Wednesday. The Southern Conference match is set to tipoff at 7 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Samford enters the contest with the Bears with a record of 9-19 and a mark of 3-11 in the Southern Conference… On Feb. 15, the Bulldogs snapped an 11 game losing streak with a 74-62 victory over The Citadel… The three conference wins for Samford have come against The Citadel (2) and VMI (1)… The Bulldogs are averaging 73.9 points per game and are shooting 43.9 percent from the floor… Samford is averaging 6.5 made three-pointers per game and is shooting 34.1 percent on threes…. Josh Sharkey leads the team in scoring as he is averaging 17.4 points per game… He is one of four players scoring in double-figures for the Bulldogs… Brandon Austin (14.0 ppg), Robert Allen (13.6 ppg) and Jalen Dupree (11.6 ppg) round out the double-digit scorers… Opponents are scoring 80.1 points per game against Samford… Opponents are shooting 44.8 percent from the floor including 34.8 percent on three-pointers… Samford is allowing opponents to make 10.3 three-pointers per game… Samford is led by sixth-year head coach Scott Padgett.

LAST TIME OUT
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. Mercer shot 37.1 percent from the floor and 23.3 percent on three-pointers in the contest. The Bears assisted on 17 of 23 made field goals in the contest.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Djordje Dimitrijevic made a three-pointer against UNCG and now has hit a three-pointer in 24 straight games. This is the longest streak in the SoCon with a three-pointer made in consecutive games. Matt Ryan of Chattanooga, who has made a three-pointer in 16 straight games, holds the second-longest streak in the SoCon for made three-pointers.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     24
Matt Ryan (Chattanooga)             16
Ross Cummings (Mercer)             13
Fletcher Abee (Citadel)                  13
Nathan Hoover (Wofford)            13

TOP SoCON FREE THROW SHOOTING TEAMS
Wednesday night's Southern Conference contest against Samford will feature the top two free throw shooting teams in the conference. Samford edged Mercer for the top free throw shooting team in the league. Samford is shooting 73.4 percent on free throws this year while the Bears are shooting 72.7 percent. These are the only team in the SoCon that are shooting over 72 percent on free throws.

LAST MEETING WITH SAMFORD
The last time the Bears and Bulldogs met was on Jan. 18, 2020. Mercer came away with a 90-75 victory in Birmingham, Ala. In the contest, Ethan Stair scored his 1,000^th career point and led the Bears with 26 points. Djordje Dimitrijevic followed with 25 points. He tied his career-high with six made three-pointers in the contest. Jeff Gary and Kamar Robertson rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 and 10 points respectfully. Mercer shot 55.7 percent from the floor, its best percentage for a single game all season.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR STAIR
Entering his senior season with only two career double-doubles, Ethan Stair has become a double-double machine. In the contest against UNCG, Stair picked up his 10th double-double of the season as he scored 16 points and collected a team-high 11 rebounds. His ten double-doubles are second in the Southern Conference and the 37th best in the NCAA. He now has 12 career double-doubles.

STAIR CLIMING UP THE SCORING RANKS
Ethan Stair joined the 1,000-point club in in Birmingham, Ala. on Jan. 18 when the Bears defeated Samford, 90-75. He now has 1,116 points in his career and is sitting at No. 28 in program history. In the contest against UNCG on Saturday, Stair passed Shaddean Aaron to move into the 28th spot on the all-time leading scorers list for Mercer. Below are the players he is looking to catch over the next few games. James Florence, who played for the Bears from 2006-10, is the all-time leading scorer as he scored 2,286 points. Florence is the only 2,000-point scorer in Mercer history.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 26-30)
Rk.         Name                                    Pts
26.          Chris Moore                       1,120
27.          Kenny Daugherty             1,118
28.          Ethan Stair                          1,116
29.          Shaddean Aaron               1,115
30.          Stephon Jelks                    1,113

STAIR CLSOING IN ON TOP TEN REBOUNDING SEASON
Senior Ethan Stair has collected 240 rebounds during the 2019-20 season. He is 24 rebounds shy of tying Benton Wade and Woodrow Richardson for ninth single-season Mercer Basketball history.

COLLECTING THE OFFENSIVE BOARDS
Against Furman, the Bears collected 20 offensive rebounds. This is the most in a single game this season. Mercer has collected 10 or more offensive rebounds 12 times this season. They have accomplished this feat in the last two games of the season. For the season, Ethan Stair has collected 45 offensive boards to lead the Bears, while Maciej Bender follows with 44. Eight different Bears have collected at least 10 or more offensive rebounds in 2019-20.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING
This season, seniors Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic have each hit six three-pointers in a contest. Stair accomplished this feat at Georgia Southern (11/19), while Dimitrijevic did this twice, against VMI (1/15) and Samford (1/18). The school record for most three-pointers hit in a game is nine, which was accomplished by Bud Thomas against Lipscomb during the 2013-14 season.

BEARS WIN STREAK OVER SAMFORD
The Bears lead the all-time series 70-45 over the Bulldogs of Samford. Over the last 13 games, the Bears are 13-0 against Samford. On Jan 18, 2020, Mercer earned a 90-75 victory over Samford in Birmingham, Ala. The win streak for the Bears over the Bulldogs started on Jan. 23, 2003 when Mercer defeated Samford, 74-68, in Birmingham. Over this winning streak, Mercer has won eight games by less than 10 points. The closest game they had against Samford was on Feb. 21, 2015 when they Bears defeated Samford, 62-61.

SURPASSING LAST YEARS SOCON WIN TOTAL
With the win over Wofford on Feb. 12, the Bears' surpassed their SoCon win total from the 2018-19 season. Mercer has won seven games in the Southern Conference this season, increasing its total by one from last season. Mercer has five games remaining this season. Since the season 2016-17 season, the most Southern Conference the Bears' have compiled in a season was 11 during the 2017-18 season.

STAIR LEADS THE BERS IN REBOUNDING
Senior Ethan Stair leads the Bears in rebounding this season. He is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game. His 8.9 average per game is third in the Southern Conference. Stair has 14 games this season with nine or more rebounds. He set his career-high with 16 rebounds against UNCW on Dec. 16, 2019. At ETSU on Jan. 29, Stair finished one rebound shy of his career-high. He has 10 games with double-figure rebounds. Stair has collected a career-high 240 rebounds this season.

SINGLE GAME SOCON SCORING LEADERS
The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 34 points on Jan. 11 against Western Carolina. The 34 points are the fourth-highest single-game total in the Southern Conference. Jordan Lyons (Furman) scored 40 points at VMI earlier this year and last weekend Josh Sharkey (Samford) scored 35 against Chattanooga. Below are the top five SoCon scorers this season.

Name (Team)                                    Points                   Opponents (Date)
Jordan Lyons (Furman)                  40                           at VMI (1/1/20)
Greg Parham (VMI)                         36                           The Citadel (2/8/20)
Josh Sharkey (Samford)                 35                           vs. Chattanooga (1/29/20)
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     34                           at Western Carolina (1/11/20)
Jordan Lyons (Furman)                  33                           at Alabama (11/19/19)
Jordan Lyons (Furman)                  33                           at Western Carolina (2/8/20)

GREG GARY COACH'S SHOW
The Greg Gary Coach's Show is underway from Margaritas in Mercer Village. The 11-edition show will be streamed on Sportsmic Radio and the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page. The show is aired from Margaritas in Mercer Village from 6 to 7 p.m. The next Greg Gary Coach's Show will be on Monday, Feb. 24th.

SoCON CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2020 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship presented by General Shale will be held March 6-9 at Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina. The 2020 edition of the tournament is the 100th for the nation's oldest collegiate conference basketball tournament.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday when they travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. to face Chattanooga in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. from McKenzie 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.