Men’s Basketball Travels to Furman

Wednesday, February 5

Greenville, S.C.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

Furman

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

2/4/2020 4:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes

Bears looking to extend their winning streak

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team looks to extend their winning streak on Wednesday when they travel to Greenville, S.C. to take on Furman in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Timmons Arena.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: Feb. 5, 2020 | 7 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Mercer (12-11, 6-4 SoCon) at Furman (18-5, 8-2 SoCon)
Location: Greenville, S.C. | Timmons Arena
Live Stats: FurmanPaladins.com
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, 18-10
• Current Streak: L9
• Last Meeting: L, 64-62 (Dec. 20, 2019)

OPENING TIPOFF
Mercer Men's Basketball hits the road for a midweek contest on Wednesday when they travel to Greenville, S.C. to face Furman in Southern Conference action. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN+, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE PALADINS
Furman enters the contest with the Bears with a record of 18-5 and 8-2 in the Southern Conference… The Paladins are tied for first place in the Southern Conference… Furman is currently on a three-game winning streak with its last win coming on Jan. 29 against VMI… Furman is averaging 77.7 points per game, while only allowing 66.3 points to its opponents… Furman is shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 35.2 percent from behind the arc… The Paladins are making 9.7 three-pointers per game… Furman is being out-rebounded on the season… Jordan Lyons leads the team in scoring as he is averaging 17.0 points per game… Lyons has made a team-high 60 three-pointers this season… Lyon scored 40 points earlier this season at VMI, which is the most points scored this season by a SoCon player… Noah Gurley follows for the Paladins averaging 14.1 points per game…. Clay Mounce is third on the team averaging 13.7 points per game and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game… They are holding opponents to 44.2 percent shooting from the floor on the season… Opponents are shooting 29.9 percent on three-pointers, the 41st best mark in the nation… Furman is led by Bob Richey, who is in his fourth season at the helm.

LAST TIME OUT
The Mercer men's basketball team increased their winning streak to six games on Saturday with a 76-71 victory over The Citadel in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week. Daniel Love led the Bears with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Kamar Robertson and Diego Rivera followed with 13 points apiece. Rivera's 13 points set a career-high. Jeff Gary added 12 points, and Ethan Stair rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Mercer shot over 50 percent for the second straight game and eighth time this season. The Bears had five players score in double figures on the night.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Three SoCon student-athletes have streaks of at least 20 games with a made three-pointer. The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic has made a three-pointer in 20 straight games. Dimitrijevic is the second-longest streak in the SoCon. The SoCon leader for consecutive games hitting a three-pointer is Brandon Allen of Samford. He is currently at 25 straight games hitting a three-pointer.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Brandon Austin (Samford)           25
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     20
Matt Halvorsen (WCU)                  20

DIMITRIJEVIC OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Senior Djordje Dimitrijevic had an outstanding January on the court. Over the Bears first 14 games of the season, Dimitrijevic was averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting 37.9 percent from the floor. In eight games in January, Dimitrijevic averaged 23.9 points per game, shot 55.2 percent from the floor and 48.2 percent from behind the arc. He scored a career-high 34 points on Jan. 11 at Western Carolina and he hit a career-best six three-pointers against VMI and at Samford. After January, Dimitrijevic averages increased. He is now averaging 18.0 points per game and shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 41.0 percent from behind the arc.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR STAIR
Entering his senior season with only two career double-doubles, Ethan Stair has become a double-double machine. Last Wednesday, in the victory over ETSU, Stair picked up his ninth double-double of the season as he scored 11 points and collected a team-high 15 rebounds in the victory. This is his second double-double in three games. His nine double-doubles are second in the Southern Conference.

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 1,063 points in his career and is sitting at No. 35 in program history. Below are the players he is looking to catch over the next few Bears 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 scorers in Mercer history.

1,000 Point Scorers (No. 30-35)
                Rk.         Name                    Pts
                30           Jerry Thurston   1,099
                31           Bob Reeves        1,097
                32           Tony Bolds          1,085
                33           Demetre Rivers 1,065
                34           Seve Moody       1,064
                35           Ethan Stair          1,063

SOCON WINNING STREAK
The Bears look to win their seventh straight Southern Conference game on Wednesday. The last time the Bears won six or more straight SoCon contests was during the 2017-18 season. During that season, the Bears rallied off eight straight SoCon wins to close out the regular season. During the 2017-18 season, Mercer went on to finish conference play at 11-7. Last season, the Bears longest winning streak in conference was two games.

LONGEST WIN STREAK IN THE SOCON
The Bears have won six straight games, which is the longest active streak in the Southern Conference. Furman holds the second-longest streak, as they are winners of its last three contests. This is the Bears longest win streak of the season.

SOCON GAME OF THE WEEK
The Bears have been in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week twice this season. Mercer holds a perfect 2-0 record in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Weeks this season.

LAST MEETING BETWEEN FURMAN AND MERCER
In a hard-fought Southern Conference opener, the Mercer men's basketball team fell to Furman, 64-62, on Dec. 20 at Hawkins Arena. Maciej Bender led the way for the Bears with a career-high 19 points. Bender filled the stat sheet as he led the team with 10 rebounds, for his second double-double of the season, and he had four blocks. Jeff Gary followed with 13 points and Ross Cummings added 12 points in the contest. Djordje Dimitrijevic dished out a career-high 10 assists.

SHOOTING OVER 60 PERCENT FROM THE FLOOR
In the win over ETSU last Wednesday night, the Bears shot 64.3 percent (27-of-42) from the floor. This is the best single game shooting percentage of the season. The last time Mercer shot over 60 percent in a contest was on Feb. 10, 2018, when Mercer shot 65.1 percent (28-of-43) in a win at Chattanooga.

STAIR LEADS THE BEARS 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 second in the Southern Conference. Carlos Dotson (WCU) leads the league averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD
On Friday, Jan. 17, 30 NCAA Men's Basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as candidates for the 2019-20 Senior CLASS Award and senior Ethan Stair was one of the selections. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The men's candidates will be narrowed to a field of 10 finalists in February, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2020 NCAA Men's Final Four® and NCAA Women's Final Four® this spring. For more information on each of the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

SINGLE GAME SCORING LEADERS
The Bears Djordje Dimitrijevic scored 34 points on Jan. 11 against Western Carolina. The 34 points are the third-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)
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)
Kaelon Harris (The Citadel)           32                           at Wofford (1/11/20)

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. 10th.

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 to on Saturday when they host ETSU at Hawkins Arena. Saturday is Boy Scout Day at the Hawk. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m.

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.