Bears Second Half Comeback Falls Short

Saturday, February 8

Macon, Ga.

4:30 p.m.

Mercer University

12-13,6-6SoCon

ETSU

21-4,10-2SoCon

ETSU

Mercer

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

2/8/2020 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer could not overcome halftime deficit

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – After trailing by nine at the half, the Mercer men's basketball team could not overcome the nine-point deficit in the second half as the Bears were defeated by the Bucs of ETSU, 73-60, on Saturday afternoon.

Djordje Dimitrijevic led the way for the Bears (12-13, 6-6 SoCon) with 22 points. He went 2-of-6 on three-pointers, extending his made three-point streak to 22 straight games. Ethan Stair followed with 19 points in the game.

The Bears and Bucs (21-4, 10-2 SoCon) came out trading buckets over the first five minutes of the half. After a made jumper by Daniel Love, the two sides were tied at 6-6. The game stayed within two points over the next four minutes.

Mercer led by one after a layup by Dimitrijevic, 11-10, but ETSU answered back. The Bucs, who are the No. 5 team in the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, went on an 11-0 run to take a 21-11 lead. The Bears continued to battle and a three-pointer by Stair late in the half brought the Bears within six, 26-20. The lead was extended to 11 late in the half by ETSU before James Glisson III hit a jumper to put the Bears down nine, 31-22, heading to the locker room.

Coming out of halftime, Mercer responded by scoring the first five points of the half and trimmed the deficit down to four, 31-27. ETSU answered again with a 9-0 run of its own increasing the lead to 13, 40-27.

Trailing by 13, Mercer went on a 9-0 run of its own that was capped by a Maciej Bender dunk. This run cut the Bucs lead down to four, 40-36. The lead grew back to double-figures two minutes after a pair of three-pointers by the Bucs.

Mercer continued to battle and had the lead down to six on multiple occasions. After a jumper by Diego Rivera, Mercer trailed by six, 56-50, with 6:48 left in the contest. The game remained within single digits until late in the half when ETSU extended the lead back into double-digits. Mercer was unable to answer.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary – "We did not fight hard enough. We had another opportunity to come in here and play hard against a good team, and we did not do it tonight. We are going to keep working and fixing areas that need to be fixed. We will keep going at it. It is disappointing because I do not like the way we fought."

NOTABLES

Dimitirjevic lead the Bears with 22 points in the contest on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor.
Dimitrijevic went for 2-for-6 from behind the arc. He now has made a three in 22 straight games, the longest streak in the SoCon.
Love tied his career high with eight rebounds. He set the career high on Jan. 4 against Chattanooga.
The Bears outrebounded the Bucs 35-31 in the game. This is the 17th time this season, the Bears have outrebounded their opponents.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Spartanburg, S.C., to face Wofford in Southern Conference play. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from the Richardson Indoor Stadium.

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.