Bears Can't Defeat Mocs, Fall 83-80

Wednesday, January 13

Chattanooga, TENN.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

7-4,0-3SoCon

Chattanooga

11-3,2-3SoCon

Mercer

Chattanooga

Photo by: Will Stone

1/13/2021 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Ross Cummings scored 22 points.

By: Kraig Doremus

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Ross Cummings scored 22 points, including 19 in the first half, but it wasn't enough as the Bears fell to the Chattanooga Mocs, 83-80, in SoCon action on Wednesday night.

Mercer (7-4. 0-3 SoCon) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in 2:40 and took a double-digit advantage soon after. Cummings gave Mercer greater than a 10-point lead with his third three-pointer of the evening, as his triple put the Bears in front, 19-7, with 13:09 to play. At that point, Cummings had also single-handedly outscored the opposition, 11-7.

With the Orange & Black ahead 26-17, Cummings sparked a 11-2 run to give the Bears an 18-point lead. He scored the first five points of the run with a three-pointer and layup while Jeff Gary's layup and four points from Maciej Bender – including two of an impressive dunk – concluded the run.

Chattanooga (11-3, 2-3 SoCon) trailed by 19 with 2:25 left in the half after Cummings' fifth connection from downtown, but would battle until the intermission, closing the half on a 10-0 run which included five points in the final 36 seconds.

The Mocs opened the second half on a 10-2 spurt to close within a bucket before five straight Mercer points made it 47-41. The Bears extended their lead to as many as nine, 50-41, but a 14-4 Chattanooga run put the home team in front. The Mocs slowly increased their lead with a pair of free throws giving UTC an eight-point advantage, its largest of the evening.

Mercer continued to fight over the final eight minutes and twice pulled within two – first off Leon Ayers III's jumper with 1:17 remaining – and again with just 12 ticks of the clock remaining when Felipe Haase made two free throws.

Chattanooga's Darius Banks, who played in his first game of the season, made both tries at the charity stripe with eight seconds left to make it an 83-80 game in favor of the Mocs. Mercer's final try, a three-pointer from Cummings, fell short, and Chattanooga picked up the three-point win.

Cummings led the Bears with 22 points while Haase contributed 15 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Ayers III, Gary and Neftali Alvarez also reached double figures, adding 13, 10 and 10 respectively. The Bears made just under 50 percent of their attempts, hitting 31-of-63 tries (49.2 percent).

Chattanooga was led by the hot-shooting Stefan Kenic. Kenic made 8-of-13 shots on the night and was nearly automatic from both beyond the arc (4-for-5) and the free throw line (7-of-8). He poured in 27 points and grabbed 17 points. Jean-Baptist also reached 20 points while Malachi Smith (14) and Darius Banks (10) rounded out the Mocs' double figure scorers. UTC shot slightly worse than Mercer, hitting 28-of-59 (47.5 percent) of its shots.

Coach Gary Quotables
ON THE GAME
"At Furman we were good in the first half, and in the last two minutes of that we self-destructed. It was the same thing here in the last six minutes [of the half]. We're not consistent enough. Don't ask me why. We have to continue fighting. That's the only way I know is to keep fighting and to keep showing them film. Our defense is not good enough consistently for 40 minutes. Chattanooga did a good job. The second half they got to the rim and did a good job of physically taking it to us. We missed some open shots and picked up cheap fouls. Chattanooga's guards are big, physical and strong. [Stefan] Kenic got whatever he wanted. We didn't play with enough spirit and toughness tonight. We started being casual. We scored 80 points. If you're playing well defensively you should win [when scoring 80 points]."

ON ROSS CUMMINGS' FIRST HALF
"He's a great shooter, and we have to help him and give him more opportunities to shoot the ball. We can't turn it over."

NOTABLES

10 players saw action in the game making it the first time since a battle at Georgia State that 10 Bears played.
The Orange & Black scored 80 points for the second game in a row.
Cummings' 19 points were a first half season-high.
Cummings' 22 points were three off his season-best and marked the third consecutive game he scored at least 20 points.
Ayers III hit double figures for the third time in four contests.
Bender was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and was the only Bear to hit all his attempts from the floor.
Diego Rivera provided solid minutes in relief, playing a season-high nine minutes off the bench.
Mercer's 10 three-pointers marked the fifth time in 11 games that the Bears made at least 10 treys.
The Bears 88.8 percent (8-of-9) night at the charity stripe was the second highest percentage of the season

UP NEXT
The Bears will return to Hawkins Arena for the first time since Dec. 29 when Western Carolina comes to Macon for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday. The game is the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week and can be seen on select Nexstar affiliates and ESPN+. Rick Cameron will have the radio call on the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, SportsMic).