Ayers III's Career Day Leads Bears Past Bulldogs

Wednesday, January 20

Charleston, S.C.

5:00 PM

Mercer University

9-4,2-3SoCon

The Citadel

8-4,1-4SoCon

Mercer

The Citadel

Photo by: Will Stone

Ayers III's Career Day Leads Bears Past Bulldogs

1/20/2021 7:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Ayers III scored a career-best 23 points.

By: Kraig Doremus

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Leon Ayers III's career-high 23 points helped the Bears jump out to a sizable lead over The Citadel Bulldogs and cruise to an 83-63 win in Charleston on Wednesday.

Ayers III hit his first 10 shots of the night and finished with a stellar stat line of 23 points accompanied by eight rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

Mercer (9-4, 2-3 SoCon) led for all but 36 seconds, leaving little doubt as to who the victor would be on Wednesday. The Bears jumped out to a 5-0 lead when Neftali Alvarez stole the inbounds pass following Maciej Bender's layup and fired the ball to Jeff Gary on the left wing. Gary's three swished through the net to increase the Bears' advantage.

The Citadel (8-4, 1-4 SoCon) battled to tie the game at 13, but Bender's dunk with 5:55 elapsed gave the Orange & Black the lead for good. Bender's jam sparked a 9-0 Mercer spurt which was capped by Felipe Haase's triple prior to the under-12 media break.

The Bears' first double-digit lead of the half came with 9:49 remaining, and Mercer's largest advantage of the first 20 minutes, a 15-point cushion, happened on two occasions – first when Ayers III connected from downtown with 5:45 in the half, tying his career-best of 17 points – and again when Alvarez's three-pointer made it a 48-33 game with 3:00 left until the intermission. Mercer held a 52-38 lead after 20 minutes.

An 8-0 Mercer run to open the final half, with the first six points coming courtesy of Bender, pushed Mercer's advantage to 20 for the first time. By the midway point of the second half, the Bears had taken their largest of the contest, 70-46, thanks to a three-pointer from the sharpshooting Haase.

The Bulldogs from Charleston managed to get Mercer's advantage under 20, coming as close as 17 points with 5:35 on the clock. Ross Cummings, who had a quiet 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, pushed the Orange & Black's lead back to 20, and the two teams traded baskets over the final 5:45 with Mercer leaving the Palmetto State with 20-point victory, 83-63.

Mercers shot a scorching 66.7 percent (22-of-33) over the first 20 minutes but cooled off in the final half, ending the night at 53.7 percent (36-of-63) from the field. The Bears were led by Ayers III who scored all 23 of his points in the first half. Five Mercer players ended the night in double figures with four-of-five starters scoring more than 10 points. Bender contributed 15 and continued his hot shooting by going 7-of-11 from the field, while Cummings and Alvarez each added 13. Haase rounded out the scorers in double figures with 11 points. Ayers III dished out a game-high seven assists, and his eight boards were a team-best.

The Citadel's Hayden Brown nearly turned in a double-double, contributing 21 points and nine rebounds in the loss. Kaiden Rice added 16 points, and Brady Spence contributed 10. The Bulldogs shot 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) before going ice cold in the final half, making 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) shots. The Citadel out-rebounded the visitors from Macon, 42-35.

Coach Greg Gary Quotables

ON THE FIRST HALF
"I thought in the first half Jeff [Gary] and Ross [Cummings] did a heck of a job guarding [Kaiden] Rice and [Fletcher] Abee. The shots they hit, we were right there up into them. They did one heck of a job defending them, and it was part of the reason we got off to a good start. We carried the momentum of the start through [the rest of] the first half. I was proud of our effort defensively. We have been harping on that in practice. I thought our guys did a great job carrying out their assignments. Our second half goal was to hold them under 30 points, and we held them to 25 points and only 26.9 percent from the floor. It will be a nice bus ride home."

ON THE SPARK PROVIDED BY LEON AYERS III
"He was huge. It kind of deflates you if you are on the other team. He was making tough shots, which he is capable of doing. Leon was huge for us in the first half. He gives us such a spark coming off the bench, and we are lucky to be able to have that."

ON THE OFFENSE
"We have a good offensive team. We have to move the basketball and share it. We have good offensive players, so the more possessions we get, the better we are going to be. I thought we moved the basketball well tonight, but moving forward we have to continue to share it."

ON THE BENCH
"The energy was good, and it should be that way. We are a team. Whether you are playing or not, you should be happy for the guys on the floor. We watch film, and I always look at the bench and see who is up and cheering rather than sitting down worrying about why they are not playing. I was happy to see the bench bring so much energy."

NOTABLES

Ayers III's 23 points are a career-best.
Tonight marked Ayers III's 10th game in double figures and first 20-point performance in a Mercer uniform
Ayers III became the first Bear to hit 10 first half shots this season.
He joins Bender as one of two players to make 10 shots in a game. Bender did so against Kennesaw State (Dec. 22) and Western Carolina (Jan. 16).
The Orange & Black scored 52 points in the first half, the most first half points of any game thus far.
The team's 83 points are tied for the fourth most this season.
As a team, Mercer's 66.7 percent (22-of-33) start from the floor was its best first half shooting percentage this season.
The Bears' 36 field goals are a season-high while the 53.7 percent showing is their third-best this season.
Mercer has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in six of 13 games in 20202-21.
A stifling defensive held the Bulldogs to 33.3 percent from the field. The Bears were the first team to hold the 'Dogs under 40 percent this season.
The Bears committed just six turnovers, the lowest number of miscues this season.
The Orange & Black are 3-0 against The Citadel in the Greg Gary era with an average margin of victory of 13.67 points.
Mercer improved to 5-1 in afternoon games (12 noon – 5:59 p.m. start time) and 2-2 on Wednesdays.

UP NEXT
The Bears will host VMI in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game will air on select Nexstar affiliates and ESPN+. Rick Cameron will have the radio broadcast on the Mercer Sports Network – 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic.

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.