Bears Eliminated in Quarterfinals by Western Carolina

Saturday, March 7

Asheville, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

17-15,11-7SoCon

Western Carolina

19-11,10-8SoCon

Western Caro.

Mercer

Bears Eliminated in Quarterfinals by Western Carolina

3/7/2020 6:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Kamar Robertson led the Bears with 17 points

By: Travis Rae

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Mercer men's basketball team was eliminated from the Ingles Southern Conference Championship presented by General Shale after being defeated by Western Carolina, 70-56, on Saturday afternoon.

Kamar Robertson led the Bears (17-15) with 17 points. He shot 7-of-10 from the field including 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Djordje Dimitrijevic followed with 11 points. Ethan Stair grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Western Carolina came out strong as it held the Bears scoreless over the first three minutes of the game and scored the first seven points. Following the Catamounts run, the Bears answered with one of their own. Mercer scored the next six points and the Black and Orange trailed 7-6 with 15:23 to go in the first half.

The Catamounts answered back and extended the lead back to seven, 17-10, after a three-pointer by Onno Steger. Mercer trimmed the lead down to three, 17-14, following buckets by Dimitrijevic and Gary.

Following a cold stretch for both teams, Robertson hit back-to-back three-pointers. The second three-pointer cut the Catamounts lead to one, 22-21. Mercer trailed 23-21 before James Glisson III went for an old fashion three-point play putting the Bears ahead, 24-23.

The Bears held the lead for the remainder of the half and took a 29-28 advantage into halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Western Carolina came out and regained the lead on a Matt Halvorsen three-pointer. The Catamounts stretched their lead to seven points before Dimitrijeivc hit a three-pointer trimming the lead down to four, 38-34. The three-pointer was Dimitrjievic's 29th straight game with a three.

Western Carolina held the Bears scoreless for a four minute stretch midway through the second half and built a 14-point lead over Mercer. Stair broke the scoreless drought with a three-pointer putting Mercer down 49-38 with 10:33 to go in the game.

A minute later, Robertson hit his third three-pointer of the game putting the Bears down nine, 50-41. On the next trip down the court for the Bears, Robertson hit a jumper and brought Mercer within seven, 50-43.

After the game was within seven, Western Carolina went on a 11-2 run and extended its lead to 16 points after a three-pointer by Steger. The Bears did not have an answer for the Catamounts run and the closest they would get for the remainder of the game was 14 points, 70-56, which was the final score.

QUOTABLES
Coach Greg Gary
Opening statement
"They physically got into us and made it difficult for us to run anything. That's the bottom line. They were just more physical than us, and you've got to commend them on their defensive effort. On the other end, the first half was good to hold them to just 28 points. You just can't give up 42 in the second half. They score points, but we just got behind their action. We weren't paying attention to our assignments and carrying them out."

On Western Carolina's free throws
"We fouled too much. We had 11 turnovers in the first half, which, really, we should've been up by eight. They scored 20 points off free throws and turnovers, and they had 28. We could've very easily been up by more than just one, and that's when you need to take advantage of that situation to try to build yourself a lead."

On Western Carolina's second half start
"They came out and took it right to us, and we didn't respond. They got to the free throw line way too much and just physically dominated us."

On Kamar Robertson's performance
"He played great. He kept competing and making shots. He's going to do nothing but get better, so I was excited to see him compete and make some shots which was important."

On message to seniors
"I can't thank Djordje [Dimitrijevic] and Ethan [Stair] enough. I know it stinks to have the regular season end this way, but they gave us an awful lot. I'm in debt to those guys forever because they didn't have to come back. It was pretty cool to coach those two."

On the Mercer fan's presence in the arena
"It was awesome. I feel bad that we didn't do what we were supposed to because they certainly did. I love that the fans showed out and did a great job. We're going to build off of this and keep getting more people here and getting better."

NOTABLES

Kamar Robertson scored a career-high 17 points. He shot 7-of-10 from the field and was 3-of-3 on three-pointers.
Djordje Dimitrijevic hit a three-pointer for his 29^th straight game. This is the longest active streak in the SoCon.
The Bears picked up 10 assists on 22 made field goals.
Mercers shot 6-of-17 from behind the arc. Robertson led the Bears three-point shooters making three threes.
The Bears fall to 2-6 in games played in the SoCon Tournament.

UP NEXT
The Bears are officially eliminated from the 2020 SoCon Championship but will await final postseason tournament selections to determine if the 2019-20 season is complete.

How to Follow the Bears:
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