Mercer to Conclude Road Swing at Wofford

MACON, Ga. – Mercer men's basketball will complete its two-game road swing with a 4 p.m. battle against Wofford on Saturday afternoon.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021 | 4:00 p.m.
Matchup: Mercer (10-5, 3-4 SoCon) at Wofford (9-5, 6-2 SoCon)
Location: Spartanburg, S.C. | Richardson Indoor Stadium
Live Stats: bit.ly/2MEqxVr
Live Video: es.pn/2Yp6gWz
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB
Game Notes: Mercer

TODAY'S GAME/LAST TIME OUT
The Mercer Bears hit six of their first seven shots, but the fast start did not last as the UNCG Spartans defeated the Bears, 81-68, on Wednesday night. Mercer shot a decent 49 percent (24-of-49) from the floor and were led by Felipe Haase's team-high 17 points. Neftali Alvarez added 12 points. The redshirt sophomore guard hit his first four shots of the night before heading to the bench for an extended break after picking up two quick fouls. Cummings was the third and final Bear in double figures with 10 points. On Saturday, the Bears conclude a two-game road swing with a 4 p.m. contest against the Wofford Terriers.

ABOUT THE TERRIERS
Storm Murphy leads Wofford with an average of 19.8 points per contest. The dynamic, play-making guard has led the Terriers to a 9-5 record an impressive 6-2 mark in Southern Conference action. Tray Hollowell is also averaging double figures for the Terriers, contributing 12.1 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Wofford leads, 29-23. Mercer is seeking to avenge a Dec. 29 loss to the Terriers that came in Hawkins Arena on ESPNU.

MOVING UP THE LIST
Ross Cummings became the 43rd player in Mercer men's basketball history to reach at least 1,000 career points when he made a layup with 5:45 to go against Wofford on Dec. 29. He currently sits 33rd on the all-time scorers list. Below are the players he is trying to catch. Prior to Cummings, the last Bear to join the 1,000 point club was Ethan Stair. Stair joined the club last season on Jan. 28 at Samford. The all-time leading scorer is James Florence. Florence played for the Bears from 2006-10 and tallied 2,286 points in his career. Cummings' 1,093 points rank him 33rd in program history.

Mercer Scoring Leaders
Rk.       Name                           Pts.
28.       Kenny Daugherty      1,117
29.       Shaddean Aaron        1,115
30.       Stephon Jelks             1,113
31.       Jerry Thruston             1,099
32.       Bob Reeves                 1,097
33        Ross Cummings        1,093

200+ CAREER THREE-POINTERS FOR CUMMINGS
The sharpshooting Cummings is nearing Mercer's all-time three-pointers made record, currently held by fan-favorite Langston Hall. Hall, who led the Bears to a stunning upset of No. 3 Duke in the NCAA Tournament in 2014, knocked down 256 treys. James Florence, the Bears' all-time leading scorer knocked down 242 shots from beyond the arc. Thanks to four three-pointers against Ga. Southern (Dec. 13), Cummings has sole possession of third all-time on the list. His five triples on Dec. 29 vs. Wofford put him over 200 total. He currently has 217 three-pointers made and is 40 away from the record.

Rk.       Name                           3's
1          Langston Hall               256
2.         James Florence           242
3.         Ross Cummings          217
4.         E.J. Kusnyer   190
5.         Bud Thomas 161

BENDER AMONG NATION'S BEST SHOOTERS
Maciej Bender currently sits eighth in the country in field goal percentage. Below are the top-10 as of 1.28.21

Rk.       %.        Name (School)
1.         74.5     Asbjorn Midtgaard (Grand Canyon)
2.         70.1     Kofi Cockburn (Illinois)
3.         68.8    Hunter Dickinson (Michigan)
4.         66.4    Dwight Wilson (Ohio)
5.         65.9     Xavier Cork (Western Carolina)
6.         65.0     Nate Laszewski (Notre Dame)
T-7.      64.7    Grant Basille (Wright State)
T-7.      64..7   Jalen Johnson (Alabama A&M)
9.         64.4    Maciej Bender (Mercer)
10,       63.3     KJ Williams (Murray State)

CUMMINGS HIGH AMONG ACTIVE SCORING LEADERS
Ross Cummings is among the Southern Conference's active career scoring leaders.

Name                           School             Yr.        Points
Isaiah Miller                 UNCG Sr. 1,686
Storm Murphy           Wofford          Sr.        1.166
Matt Halvorsen           WCU               Sr.        1,162
David Jean-Baptiste  UTC                 Sr.        1,155
Clay Mounce               Furman          Sr.        1,155
Ross Cummings        Mercer            R-Sr.    1,093

GARY LEADING THE CONFERENE IN ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO
Jeff Gary is leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio

Name               School Ratio
Jeff Gary          MER 3.0
Alex Hunter    FUR 2.6
Tyler Moffe      CIT 1.9
Greg Parham  VMI    1.8
K. Langley       UNCG 1.7

DON't Leave him open! CUMMINGS AMONG SOCON'S BEST FROM DISTANCE
Ross Cummings is third among active SoCon players career in three-pointers made.

Name                           School Yr.        3's
Matt Halvorsen         WCU Sr.        269
Kaiden Rice               Citadel Sr.        244
Ross Cummings       Mercer R-Sr. 217

HAASE HITS THE BOARDS
Felipe Haase has made a difference on the glass for Mercer this season. Below is where he ranks among the SoCon's leaders in rebounding.

Rk.       Category          Avg.
3.         Reb./Game       8.3
3.         Def.Reb/Game 6.7
10.       Off.Reb./Game 1.6

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.

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Players Mentioned

Neftali Alvarez

Maciej Bender

Ross Cummings

Jeff Gary

Felipe Haase

Ethan Stair

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