Hot Shooting Bears Run Past Samford, 106-66

Wednesday, February 19

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

14-14,8-7SoCon

106

Samford

9-20,3-12SoCon

Samford

Mercer

106

2/19/2020 10:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer shot 61.1 percent from the floor and scored 31 fast break points in the win.

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball shot 61.1 percent from the floor en route to its 14th consecutive victory over the Samford Bulldogs. The Bears defeated the Bulldogs, 106-66, on Wednesday evening in Hawkins Arena.

Leading the Bears (14-14, 8-7 SoCon) on the night was redshirt-sophomore Jeff Gary. Gary shot 12-of-16 from the floor and connected on 8-of-10 three-pointers. He scored a career-high 32 points and also set a new career-best with eight treys. Djordje Dimitrijevic picked up his second career double-double with 21 points and 10 assists.

Freshman James Glisson III was huge off the bench for Mercer. Glisson III shot 10-for-11 and scored a career-high 21 points. The Bears connected on 44 of their 72 shot attempts (61.1 percent) and knocked down 14-of-27 three-points attempts (51.9 percent) in the win. Besides hot shooting, Mercer set a school record with 30 assists.

For the first five minutes of the contest, the Bears and Bulldogs traded baskets, and Samford held an early 11-8 lead. Over the next three minutes the Bears were limited to four points, and a Josh Sharkey layup gave Samford a 15-12 advantage.

Samford (9-20, 3-12 SoCon) was unable to maintain its advantage as Mercer answered back when Glisson III scored to put the Bears ahead by one, 20-19. Later in the half, with Mercer trailing by four, Dimitrijevic hit a three-pointer and was fouled. He made the free throw for the four-point play and tied the game at 28.

With 4:20 to go in the half, Gary took over. He made his first three-pointer of the night, to give Mercer a 31-28 lead. The Austin, Texas native was not done as he connected on three more three-pointers in the half and increased the Bears' lead to 47-32 by halftime.

The Bears came out of the locker room, and Gary remained hot, hitting his fifth three of the game, and also making a layup to extend the home squad's lead to 20, 52-32, just 67 seconds into the final half. Mercer continued to add to its advantage after an Ethan Stair three-pointer put the Bears ahead, 60-37.

Gary remained on hot from deep as the second half progressed and made a total of four three-pointers over the final 20 minutes. He hit a triple with 12:15 to go, which extended Mercer's lead to 25, 67-42. Four minutes later, Gary connected from beyond the arc once again, putting the Bears ahead by 30, 81-51.

The Bulldogs had no answer for the Bears, and Mercer's lead increased to as many as 40 points in the second half, which would ultimately be the margin of victory as Mercer came away with a 106-66 win.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS WE COULD TALK ABOUT. GIVE US YOUR OVERALL OPINION ON THE GAME.
"I'm just happy with how our guys were locked in and how they shot the ball. It always helps when you shoot the ball well. We shared the basketball too. The first time we played Samford, I told the team we had to move the ball. Samford plays some different defenses. I thought we did a great job sharing the basketball."
SPEAKING OF SHARING THE BASKETBALL, WE'VE NEVER HAD A MERCER TEAM WITH 30 ASSISTS IN A GAME.
"I've never been associated with a team that had 30 assists either. That's a lot."
YOU'VE BEEN WANTING A 2:1 RATIO. WE BLEW THAT OFF THE CHARTS. WE HAD A 4:1 ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO, 30 ASSISTS COMPARED TO 7 TURNOVERS.
"Our guys did a great job of sharing the basketball and finding the open man. We did a tremendous job of moving (on offense) and shooting shots in rhythm. We have to continue to do that."

NOTABLES

The 40-point win is Mercer's largest margin of victory over an NCAA Division I opponent this season.
The win was the Bears' 14^th consecutive victory over Samford.
The Bears' 106 points are a single-game high for the 2019-20 season. Mercer's previous high this season was 104 in a 52-point rout of Milligan College on Dec. 28, 2019.
The Bears broke their record for most assists in a game with 30 dimes. The previous high of 28 came against Valparaiso on Nov. 29, 2013.
The 30 assists surpassed the Hawkins Arena high by four. Mercer dished out 26 assists against Alabama on Nov. 13, 2007.
Gary's eight three-pointers tied the Hawkins Arena record. He was off the mark from deep on just two occasions tonight.
Gary (32 points) and Glisson III (21 points) both set new career-highs in the victory. Gary's previous high was 20 points against Western Carolina (Jan. 22, 2020) while Glisson's was 18 points against Florida Gulf Coast (Nov. 15, 2019).
Dimitrijevic recorded his second career double-double with 21 points and 10 assists. His 10 assists match his career high, which was originally set against Furman on Dec. 20, 2019.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday when they travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. to face Chattanooga in a critical Southern Conference contest. The Bears and Mocs are tied at 8-7 in league play entering the matchup. 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.