Saturday, January 2
Greenville, S.C.
2:00 PM
Mercer University
7-3, 0-2SoCon
80
at
83
Furman
8-3, 2-0SoCon
1
2
F
Mercer
34
46
80
Furman
44
39
83
Photo by: Jeremy Flemming
Bears Can't Complete Comeback, Fall to Furman
1/2/2021 5:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Ross Cummings scored a team-high 22 points.
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Trailing by 18 points in the second half, the Mercer Bears displayed a no-quit mentality, embarking on a furious comeback, which ultimately fell just short as the Furman Paladins escaped with an 83-80 win.
Mercer's (7-3, 0-2 SoCon) comeback began with eight minutes gone by in the second half and Furman holding its largest lead of the afternoon, 64-46. A 7-0 Bears run in less than two minutes – which started with a Jeff Gary trey and was capped by a pair of Maciej Bender free throws, cut Furman's lead to 11.
The visitors from Macon refused to quit, trimming the Paladins' lead to 10 with 3:37 remaining when Ross Cummings, who scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game, hit a three-pointer from the corner. From there, the momentum continued to swing in favor of the visitors.
Furman (8-3, 2-0 SoCon) also led by 10 with 1:19 to go, but a 30-second spurt would prove fruitful for the Bears as Cummings converted the old-fashioned three-point play, and James Glisson III threw down a two-handed jam to make it a five-point contest.Â
Felipe Haase made it an 83-78 game in favor of Furman with eight seconds left. Glisson III increased the heartbeat of the Furman faithful exponentially as Mercer cut the lead to 83-80 via his offensive rebound and layup off Haase's errant free throw. Kamar Robertson's foul then sent the Paladins' Mike Bothwell to the line for a 1-and-1. Bothwell missed the front end of it, and Haase pulled down the defensive rebound, setting Mercer up for one final shot. Haase's three-pointer at the buzzer fell just short, and Furman held on for the 83-80 win.
Cummings led the Bears with 22 points, including 19 in the final half. The redshirt senior was 6-of-14 from the field and knocked down all six of his tries at the charity stripe. Bender contributed 14 points and was two rebounds away from a double-double with eight boards. Glisson III reached double figures, finishing one point away from his season-high with 13 points. Haase turned in a solid all-around performance with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Mercer shot an identical 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) in both halves. On the glass, the Bears held a 36-24 advantage and limited the Paladins to only four offensive boards while collecting nine of their own.
Furman was paced by Clay Mounce's 27 points while Noah Gurley also surpassed the 20-point mark with 23. Mike Bothwell was a hot 7-of-10 from the floor for 15 points. The Paladins were 31-of-58 (53.4 percent) from the field. Furman forced 19 Mercer turnovers which it turned into 24 points.
Coach Greg Gary Quotables
ON THE GAME
"You can see we turned the ball over 19 times, and Furman got 24 points from that. We shot it well, so from that standpoint it was good, but on the other hand they shot well too. We also gave them additional possessions, which you can't do when the opponent has good players. We have to be able to not turn the ball over and play against pressure – guys who make it difficult to run our offensive. Even with the turnovers, we scored 80 points, which is enough to win the game. It's still not good enough for what we want to do, but it is a step in the right direction from the Wofford game. I thought we competed, but we broke down defensively on our assignments. You have to be defensively sound against a team like Furman. When we get better on the defensive end from a standpoint of carrying out our assignments, we're going to be really good"
ON ROSS CUMMINGS STEPPING UP
"He has no conscious, which is good. He took good shots. For him, he will make his shots most of the time, so when he misses, I am not worried about it. I want him to keep shooting."
ON JAMES GLISSON III
"He played hard. When you play hard, good things happen to you. When you are locked in, it is simple. You're into the game and more concentrated."
ON KAMAR ROBERTSON IMPROVING EACH GAME
"He is. That's a good sign for us. He helps us defensively and gives us more athleticism. He will continue to get better because he cares about it, and he plays hard. He does what the staff asks him to do."
NOTABLES
The Bears will host The Citadel on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, SportsMic).
Mercer's (7-3, 0-2 SoCon) comeback began with eight minutes gone by in the second half and Furman holding its largest lead of the afternoon, 64-46. A 7-0 Bears run in less than two minutes – which started with a Jeff Gary trey and was capped by a pair of Maciej Bender free throws, cut Furman's lead to 11.
The visitors from Macon refused to quit, trimming the Paladins' lead to 10 with 3:37 remaining when Ross Cummings, who scored in double figures for the sixth consecutive game, hit a three-pointer from the corner. From there, the momentum continued to swing in favor of the visitors.
Furman (8-3, 2-0 SoCon) also led by 10 with 1:19 to go, but a 30-second spurt would prove fruitful for the Bears as Cummings converted the old-fashioned three-point play, and James Glisson III threw down a two-handed jam to make it a five-point contest.Â
Felipe Haase made it an 83-78 game in favor of Furman with eight seconds left. Glisson III increased the heartbeat of the Furman faithful exponentially as Mercer cut the lead to 83-80 via his offensive rebound and layup off Haase's errant free throw. Kamar Robertson's foul then sent the Paladins' Mike Bothwell to the line for a 1-and-1. Bothwell missed the front end of it, and Haase pulled down the defensive rebound, setting Mercer up for one final shot. Haase's three-pointer at the buzzer fell just short, and Furman held on for the 83-80 win.
Cummings led the Bears with 22 points, including 19 in the final half. The redshirt senior was 6-of-14 from the field and knocked down all six of his tries at the charity stripe. Bender contributed 14 points and was two rebounds away from a double-double with eight boards. Glisson III reached double figures, finishing one point away from his season-high with 13 points. Haase turned in a solid all-around performance with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Mercer shot an identical 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) in both halves. On the glass, the Bears held a 36-24 advantage and limited the Paladins to only four offensive boards while collecting nine of their own.
Furman was paced by Clay Mounce's 27 points while Noah Gurley also surpassed the 20-point mark with 23. Mike Bothwell was a hot 7-of-10 from the floor for 15 points. The Paladins were 31-of-58 (53.4 percent) from the field. Furman forced 19 Mercer turnovers which it turned into 24 points.
Coach Greg Gary Quotables
ON THE GAME
"You can see we turned the ball over 19 times, and Furman got 24 points from that. We shot it well, so from that standpoint it was good, but on the other hand they shot well too. We also gave them additional possessions, which you can't do when the opponent has good players. We have to be able to not turn the ball over and play against pressure – guys who make it difficult to run our offensive. Even with the turnovers, we scored 80 points, which is enough to win the game. It's still not good enough for what we want to do, but it is a step in the right direction from the Wofford game. I thought we competed, but we broke down defensively on our assignments. You have to be defensively sound against a team like Furman. When we get better on the defensive end from a standpoint of carrying out our assignments, we're going to be really good"
ON ROSS CUMMINGS STEPPING UP
"He has no conscious, which is good. He took good shots. For him, he will make his shots most of the time, so when he misses, I am not worried about it. I want him to keep shooting."
ON JAMES GLISSON III
"He played hard. When you play hard, good things happen to you. When you are locked in, it is simple. You're into the game and more concentrated."
ON KAMAR ROBERTSON IMPROVING EACH GAME
"He is. That's a good sign for us. He helps us defensively and gives us more athleticism. He will continue to get better because he cares about it, and he plays hard. He does what the staff asks him to do."
NOTABLES
- Cummings and Haase were both in double figures for the sixth consecutive game.
- Cummings has had back-to-back games of 20 or more points. He has reached the 20-point mark in four of the Bears' 10 games.
- With his 22 points, the Dickson, Tenn. native passed Rodney Kirtz for 40th place on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,026 points.
- Cummings has made a three-pointer in 23 consecutive games.
- Haase has made five field goals from the floor in five of Mercer's last six contests.
- Bender has been in double figures in three of the past four games.
- Kamar Robertson earned his first start of the season. He scored six points and grabbed four boards to go along with a pair of assists.
The Bears will host The Citadel on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, SportsMic).
Team Stats
MER
FUR
FG%
.556
.534
3FG%
.389
.417
FT%
.650
.733
RB
36
24
TO
19
12
STL
8
14
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
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