Mercer Faces Wofford on Senior Day

Saturday, February 29

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Wofford

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Photo by: Ben Murray

2/28/2020 2:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes Wofford Game Notes

The Bears will honor their two seniors prior to the game

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team returns home to host Wofford for Senior day on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.

The Bears will honor their two seniors, Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic, prior to the start of the game.

Saturday is an "Orange Out" at Hawkins Arena and fans who wear orange receive free admission. Fans will receive a Krispy Kreme doughnut, free t-shirt, free rally towels, and free sunglasses, while supplies last at the game.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Feb. 29, 2020 | 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Wofford (16-14, 8-9 SoCon) at Mercer (16-14, 10-7 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 trails in the all-time series, 28-22
• Current Streak: W1
• Last Meeting: W, 70-68 (Feb. 12, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
The Mercer men's basketball team returns to Hawkins Arena for the final time during the 2019-20 season on Saturday. The Bears' will honor their two seniors prior to the start of the contest. The Southern Conference match up is set to tipoff at 4:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE TERRIERS
Wofford enters the contest with the Bears with a record of 16-14 and 8-9 in Southern Conference play… The Terriers are currently on a six game losing streak…. The last win for Wofford came on Feb. 5 at VMI… Wofford is averaging 72.5 points per game and is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor… The Terriers are shooting 34.5 percent from the three-point line and are averaging 9.5 made three-pointers per game…. Nathan Hoover leads the team in minutes played (33.7 per game) and scoring (15.5 ppg)… Hover has started all 30 games Wofford has played this season… Storm Murphy follows with 12.1 points per game. … Wofford has four players with 40 or more made three-pointers, led by Hoover with 75… Opponents are averaging 68.5 points per game… Teams are shooting 44.0 percent from the floor against the Terriers and are making 7.7 three-pointers per game… Wofford is led by first year head coach Jay McAuley.

LAST TIME OUT
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.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Djordje Dimitrijevic made a three-pointer against The Citadel and now has hit a three-pointer in 27 straight games. This is the longest streak in the SoCon. Matt Ryan of Chattanooga, who has made a three-pointer in 19 straight games, holds the second-longest streak in the SoCon for made three-pointers.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     27
Matt Ryan (Chattanooga)             19
Fletcher Abee (Citadel)                  16
Nathan Hoover (Wofford)            16

GARY NAMED SoCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday, Jeff Gary was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week. For games played Feb. 18-24, Gary averaged 24.5 points per game and shot 69.2 percent from the floor. He hit a career-high eight three-pointers in the win against Samford last Wednesday. The eight three-pointers tied a Hawkins Arena record. Over the two games for the Bears, Gary was 12-of-18 on three-pointers.

CAREER-DAY FOR STAIR
The Bears' Ethan Stair had a career-day on Wednesday. He recorded a career-high 23 rebounds in the win at The Citadel. The 23 rebounds are a SoCon high this season, and it is only the second 20-plus rebound game of the season. His previous career-high was 16 rebounds, which was set at UNCW. Stair has had 11 double-figure rebound games this season. The last time a Bear had a 20 rebound game was Jan. 3, 2009 when Daniel Emerson collected 20 rebounds vs. Campbell.

STAIR DOES IT AGAIN!
For the 11^th time this season, Ethan Stair picked up a double-double. In the win at The Citadel, Stair recorded his 11th double-double of the season. He picked up the double-double in the first half of the game and finished with 14 points and 23 rebounds. His 11 double-doubles are the second most in the SoCon this season.

STAIR CLIMBING 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 1,150 points in his career and is sits at No. 24 in program history. In the contest against The Citadel on Wednesday, Stair passed increased two spots and moved into the 22nd 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. 17-22)
                Rk.         Name                                    Pts
                17.          Peter Geter                        1,206
                18.          Jordan Strawberry           1,200
                19.          Scott Bailey                         1,197
                20.          Robert Belloir                     1,155
                21.          Jakob Gollon                      1,153
                22.          Ethan Stair                          1,150

STAIR CLIMBS THE SINGLE SEASON REBOUND RANKS
Senior Ethan Stair has collected 277 rebounds during the 2019-20 season. He currently is ranked eighth in program history. He is seven rebounds away from tying Woodrow Richardson for sixth place. Below are the players Stair is looking to catch.

Season Rebounding
Rk.          Name                                    Rebounds
5.            Jim Hearn                            291
6.            Woodrow Richardson     284
7.            Steve Moody                     283
8.            Ethan Stair                          277

3-PT FIELD GOAL MADE IN A SEASON
This season the Bears have three players with 40 or more three-pointers made. Djordje Dimitrijevic leads the way with 64 three-pointers made, while senior Ethan Stair follows with 57. Each is a single season career-high. The tenth most three-pointers made in a season is 71 by Reggie Titus during the 1987-88 season. Dimitrijevic is seven three-pointers away from tying for 10th. E.J. Kusnyer has the school record 107 made three-pointers in a single season.

BEARS THREE-POINT SHOOTING
Redshirt sophomore Jeff Gary hit eight three-pointers in the win over Samford. He finished one off tying the school record. Earlier this season, seniors Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic 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.

TOP THREE-POINT SHOOTING SEASONS
With one regular season contest remaining the Bears have hit 231 three-pointers. This is the seventh most three-pointers made in a single season in school history. The most three-pointers made in a single season was 290 during the 2013-14 season. Below are the top six three point season marks. How high can the 2019-20 team climb?

Single Season Three-point Field Goals Made
Rk. 3-Pt. FGM    Year

290 2013-14
288 2017-18
274 2009-10
265 2012-13
264 2011-12
232 2008-09
231 2019-20

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. 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 final Greg Gary Coach's Show is set for Monday, March 2^nd at Margaritas in Mercer Village from 6 to 7 p.m. The coach's show will be streamed on Sportsmic Radio and the Mercer Men's Basketball Facebook page.

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 head to the 2020 SoCon Men's Basketball presented by General Shale. The single elimination tournament will be held at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

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.