Men's Basketball Sends Seniors Out With 59-47 Win

Saturday, February 29

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

17-14,11-7SoCon

Wofford

16-15,8-10SoCon

Wofford

Mercer

Photo by: Alex Keller

Men's Basketball Sends Seniors Out With 59-47 Win

2/29/2020 8:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score @MercerMBB

The Bears completed the season sweep of Wofford on Saturday

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team sent seniors Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic out on a high note on Saturday at Hawkins Arena with a 59-47 triumph over Wofford for their fourth straight win.

The Bears' senior duo was honored prior to the game and both players scored 14 points in the contest. Stair recorded his 12^th double-double of the year by grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Jeff Gary added 14 points as he was 4-of-6 on three-pointers.

Mercer held Wofford to 47 points, making tonight the first time the Bears held an opponent to under 50 points since Nov. 20, 2018.

Mercer (17-14, 11-7 SoCon) jumped out to a 7-0 lead just 3:09 into the contest which was capped off by a Gary three-pointer.

Wofford (16-15, 8-10 SoCon) dug its way out of the deficit and took an 11-9 lead with 12:24 remaining in the half. The Bears did allow the Terriers to take more than a three-point lead despite being unable to regain control for more than six minutes.

Mercer re-took the lead off a Gary triple with 6:22 left until halftime but a 5-0 Wofford run in 37 seconds gave the Terriers a five-point advantage, 25-20, with 4:41 to go in the half.

The Bears were unphased and scored the final seven points of the period to take a 27-25 into the locker room. After head coach Greg Gary called a timeout with 11 seconds on the clock, Gary connected on his third three-pointer of the half which swung the momentum in favor of the Bears and put them ahead by two.

Coming out of the locker room, Dimitrijevic connected from downtown to push the Bears' lead to five and Maciej Bender went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe, but the Terriers put together another run to take the lead.

Wofford held a 33-31 advantage with17:13 to go in the contest, but it was short lived. The two teams traded the lead five times with Mercer regaining the lead off a Stair three-pointer with 10:36 remaining.

Dimitrijevic added a triple of his own prior to a media timeout and with 9:56 left to play, the home team held a six-point lead, 47-41.

Mercer took its first double-digit lead of the contest off a pair of free throws by Bender with less than six minutes remaining, but Wofford chipped away at the lead, cutting it to six with three minutes on the clock.

Stair knocked down a pivotal jumper following a Mercer timeout and Gary pushed the lead back to double digits, 57-47, with 1:57 to play. Bender scored the final points of the game via a jumpshot with 76 seconds left to help Mercer earn the 59-47 win.

Mercer's stellar defense did not allow the Terriers to score for the final three minutes of the game. Wofford shot just 18-of-48 (37.5 percent), while the Bears were slightly better, connecting on 21-of-53 (39.6 percent) shots.

QUOATABLES
Coach Greg Gary
WE HELD THE TERRIERS TO THE FEWEST NUMBER OF POINTS THEY'VE SCORED ALL SEAASON, 47.
"It was grimy, grind it out type of game, and it's good to be able to win one like that. Our shots weren't following early in the first half, but I felt good because we held them to 25 first half points. The defense did such a good job of containing them and making it hard on them. Wofford runs such a good offense. They're always moving. I was proud of the way our guys fought."

WHAT A GREAT JOB BY THE SENIORS AND ALSO THE TEAM FOR SENDING THEM OUT WINNERS THIS AFTERNOON.
"They (the seniors) mean a lot to me. Ethan and Djordje both made big plays down the stretch. I was glad to see that because they've been a big part of our success this year."

YOU STARTED CONFERENCE PLAY 0-4 AND FINISH THE REGULAR SEASON IN FOURTH PLACE BY YOURSELF. WHAT A REMARKABLE JOURNEY.
"The guys have done a great job of continuing to fight and improve. When you play hard all the time, you're giving yourself a chance to win. We've done that these last few games. We've still got some basketball to play. We'll get geared up for Western Carolina in the quarterfinals on Saturday."

NOTABLES

The Bears extended their winning streak to four games and enter the Southern Conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.
Stellar defense by Mercer limited Wofford to 47 points which was the fewest points scored by a Mercer opponent this season..
For the fourth straight contest, three Bears scored in double figures.
Both seniors – Stair and Dimitrijevic – ended their final game in Hawkins Arena in double figures.
Stair passed Jakob Gollon and Robert Bellior to move in 20^th on Mercer's all-time scoring list.
Stair recorded his 12^th double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Stair is now sixth among the Bears' single-season rebounding leaders and needs five boards to pass Jim Hearn for fifth all-time.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Saturday, March 7 when they play in the Quarterfinals of the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by General Shale. Mercer, the No. 4 seed, faces No. 5 Western Carolina at 2 p.m. from the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

How to Follow the Bears:
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