Men’s Basketball Downs The Citadel For 16th Win

Wednesday, February 26

Charleston, S.C.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

16-14,10-7SoCon

The Citadel

6-22, 0-17SoCon

Mercer

The Citadel

Men’s Basketball Downs The Citadel For 16th Win

2/26/2020 10:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Bears close out the regular season on Saturday at Hawkins Arena

By: Travis Rae

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Mercer men's basketball team won its sixteenth game of the season on Wednesday evening with a 73-57 victory over The Citadel in McAlister Fieldhouse.

Ethan Stair collected a career-high 23 rebounds in the game. He is the first Bear (16-14, 10-7 SoCon) to grab 20 or more rebounds in a game since Daniel Emerson pulled down 20 against Campbell on Jan. 3, 2009. With the 23 rebounds, Stair increased his total to 277 this season, which is the eighth-most in a single season for the Bears.

Djordje Dimitrijevic led the Bears with 15 points. He went 1-4 on three-pointers and has now hit a three-pointer in 27 straight games, the longest streak in the Southern Conference. Besides rebounding, Stair added 14 points and Jeff Gary rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points.

The Bears came out locked in on the defensive side of the ball, holding The Citadel scoreless for the first six minutes of the game and to an 0-for-6 start shooting. During this stretch, the Bears went on a 9-0 run.

The lead grew to 10 points midway through the first half when Maciej Bender found Diego Rivera for a three to put Mercer ahead, 17-7. The Bulldogs tried to stay close, and a layup by Fletcher Abee later trimmed the Bears' lead down to eight, 21-13, however that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get as Mercer increased its lead to 17, 38-21, going into halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Bears led by 14, and Stair took a three-pointer and missed, but he got his own rebound and converted a layup. Two minutes later, the Bears had a lead of 19, 48-29, after a triple by Kamar Robertson.

Just prior to the midway point of the second half, Dimitrijevic hit a three-pointer for his 27th straight game with a three. Mercer grew its lead to as many as 24 points, 68-44, after a Stair jumper in the paint. Mercer did not let the Bulldogs back into the game and came away with a 73-57 win.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary
COMING INTO THE CONTEST, ETHAN STAIR HAD 254 REBOUNDS. HE NEEDED 10 TO MOVE INTO A TIE FOR NINTH IN A SINGLE-SEASON. HE DID THAT AND A WHOLE LOT MORE. I DON'T KNOW THAT I'VE SEEN A REBOUNDING PERFORMANCE QUITE LIKE HE HAD TONIGHT.
"The energy was there, and he just went and got the ball. It was impressive. He has been giving that effort and energy all year. It was great to see. It's unbelievable, and he's 6-foot-5."

EARLY ON I THOUGHT OUR DEFENSE WAS THERE. WE DIDN'T MAKE A LOT OF SHOTS, BUT WE STARTED OUT WITH SOME EXCELLENT DEFENSE.
"We were getting good shots and missing shots we usually make. I tried to preach to them that those would go down, and we would keep getting good shots but to win the game on the defensive end. I thought our guys did a good job defending. We fouled too much; we have to move our feet."

THERE'S A GOOD WOFFORD TEAM COMING TO TOWN ON SATURDAY. IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO SET THE STAGE FOR THE SOCON TOURNAMENT. IT'S A HOME GAME, SENIOR DAY AND DOUBLEHEADER – ALL THE REASONS IN THE WORLD THAT EVERY MERCER FAN SHOULD BE IN HAWKINS ARENA ON SATURDAY.
"Hopefully we can pack Hawkins Arena and send the seniors out on a high note. Those two guys have done a great job this whole year just bringing energy and effort every day in practice and being good leaders. It'll be a big game for us as a team but also for them to send them out on a high note."

NOTABLES

The Bears' 73-57 win was their 16^th of the season and marked the seventh time in the past 10 seasons that they have won at least 16 contests.
Ethan Stair finished with 23 rebounds, which is a new career-high and the first 20-rebound performance by a Mercer player since the 2008-09 season when Daniel Emerson grabbed 20 on Jan. 3, 2009.
Stair has now pulled down 277 rebounds on the season, moving him to eighth all-time on the list of most rebounds in a single season.
Mercer's 52 rebounds are a single-game high for the 2019-20 campaign.
Three Bears – led by Djordje Dimitrijevic's 15 points – scored in double figures. Tonight was the third consecutive game that at least three players scored 10+ points.
Jeff Gary's 12 points put him in double figures for the fifth straight contest.
The Bears attempted a season-high 33 shots from beyond the arc tonight.

UP NEXT
The Bears close out the 2019-20 regular season on Saturday when they host Wofford in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. from Hawkins Arena. Saturday is Senior Day. The Bears will honor their two seniors prior to the game.

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.