Mercer Faces Western Carolina in SoCon Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 7

Asheville, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Western Carolina

Photo by: Ben Murray

Mercer Faces Western Carolina in SoCon Quarterfinals

3/6/2020 11:04:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Mercer Game Notes

The Bears open the SoCon Championship in the quarterfinals against WCU

By: Travis Rae

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team heads to the Ingles Southern Conference Championship presented by General Shale to take on Western Carolina in the quarterfinals. The Bears and Catamounts are set to tipoff at 2:30 on Saturday.

GAME DAY LINEUP
Date: March 7, 2020 |2:30 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Western Carolina (18-11, 10-8 SoCon) vs. Mercer (17-14, 11-7 SoCon)
Location: Asheville, N.C. | Harrah's Cherokee Center (7,654)
Live Stats: SoConSports.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, 10-9
• Current Streak: W1
• Last Meeting: W, 85-79 (Jan. 22, 2020)

OPENING TIPOFF
The Mercer men's basketball team heads to Asheville, N.C. to participate in the Ingles Southern Conference Championship presented by General Shale. The Bears enter the Championship as the fourth seed and play Western Carolina in the Quarterfinals. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+, 100.9 The Creek FM and Sportsmic Radio with Rick Cameron on the call.

ABOUT THE CATAMOUNTS
Western Carolina enters the SoCon Tournament with a record of 18-11 on the season and finished fifth in the SoCon with a record of 10-8… The Catamounts are coming off a 68-67 loss to ETSU to close out the season… Western Carolina is averaging 79.3 points per game and shooting 46.7 percent from the floor… The Catamounts are averaging 9.9 made three-pointers per game and are shooting 37.4 percent from behind the arc… Mason Faulkner leads the team in scoring averaging 17.2 points per game… Carlos Dotson follows averaging 15.6 points per game… Dotson leads the SoCon averaging 10.0 rebounds per game... He collected 18 double-doubles on the season… The Catamounts are allowing opponents to score 74.6 points per game… Opponents are making 7.9 three-pointers per game and shooting 43.1 percent from the floor… Western Carolina is led by second year head coach Mark Prosser.

LAST TIME OUT
The Mercer men's basketball team sent seniors Ethan Stair and Djordje Dimitrijevic out on a high note on Feb. 29 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 it the first time the Bears held an opponent to under 50 points since Nov. 20, 2018.

DIMITRIJEVIC THREE-POINT STREAK
Djordje Dimitrijevic made a three-pointer against Wofford and now has hit a three-pointer in 28 straight games. This is the longest streak in the SoCon. Matt Ryan of Chattanooga, who has made a three-pointer in 20 straight games, holds the second-longest streak in the SoCon for made three-pointers.

Player (School)                                 Streak
Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer)     28
Matt Ryan (Chattanooga)             20
Fletcher Abee (Citadel)                  17
Nathan Hoover (Wofford)            17

LAST TIME AGAINST WCU
The last time the Bears and Catamounts met was on Jan. 22 in Hawkins Arena. The Bears' won their third straight Southern Conference contest as they defeated Western Carolina, 85-79, at Hawkins Arena. For the fifth straight contest, Djordje Dimitrijevic scored over 22 points. On Wednesday, Dimitrijevic finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Jeff Gary followed with a career-high 20 points. Ethan Stair recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a 17 point, 13 rebound performance. Mercer shot 48.3 percent from the floor in the win.

STAIR NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Monday, Ethan Stair was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week from the games played from Feb. 25-29. Stair averaged 14.0 points and 16.5 rebounds per game last week, adding five assists and three steals. He posted his 11^th and 12^th double-doubles of the season. In the Bears' 73-57 win at The Citadel on Feb. 26, Stair scored 14 points and pulled down a career-best 23 rebounds, the most in a game by a SoCon player this season. He hit two three-pointers and had four assists in the contest. The redshirt senior from Hazel Green, Ala., followed that up with another 14 points and 10 rebounds in Mercer's 59-47 win over Wofford on Feb. 29, going 6-for-10 (.600) from the floor. Stair hit another pair of 3-pointers and had an assist and three steals.

BEARS AT THE SOCON TOURNAMENT
The Bears are searching for their first win in the Southern Conference Tournament since 2016. The last time Mercer won a contest was when it was the seventh seed and defeated The Citadel, 71-69, on March 4, 2016. This will be the first time, the Bears have squared off with Western Carolina in the SoCon Tournament.

THREE EARN ALL-SOCON HONORS
In the Coaches All-Southern Conference Teams, Djordje Dimitrijevic and Ethan Stair garnered Second Team All-SoCon honors, while Kamar Robertson earned All-Freshman Team accolades. In the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) All-SoCon Teams, Dimitrijevic was named to the first team, Stair to the second team and Robertson to the All-Freshman team.

STAIR DOES IT AGAIN!
For the 12^th time this season, Ethan Stair picked up a double-double. He picked up the double-double as he scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds. His 12 double-doubles rank 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 1,164 points in his career and is sits at No. 20 in program history. 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. 15-20)
                Rk.         Name                                    Pts
                15.          Richard Reid                       1,246
                16.          Bruce Gordy                       1,227
                17.          Peter Geter                        1,206
                18.          Jordan Strawberry           1,200
                19.          Scott Bailey                         1,197
                20.          Ethan Stair                          1,164

STAIR CLIMBS THE SINGLE SEASON REBOUND RANKS
Senior Ethan Stair has collected 287 rebounds during the 2019-20 season. He currently is ranked sixth in program history. He is five rebounds away from passing Jim Hearn to move into the top five in program history. Below are the players Stair is looking to catch.

Season Rebounding
Rk.          Name                                    Rebounds
1.            Daniel Emerson                385
2.            Scott Farley                        349
3.            Daniel Emerson                343
4.            Steve Moody                     317
5.            Jim Hearn                            291
6.            Ethan Stair                          287

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 66 three-pointers made, while senior Ethan Stair follows with 59. 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 five 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
Heading into the Southern Conference Championship, the Bears have hit 240 three-pointers. This is the sixth 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
240 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)

UP NEXT
With a win over Western Carolina, the Bears will play on Sunday against the winner of the VMI/Samford vs. ETSU contest. With a loss, the Bears are eliminated from the Southern Conference Championship.

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.