Mercer Coasts Through Coastal Carolina

Monday, December 6

Conway, SC

7:00 PM

Mercer University

6-4,0-0SoCon

Coastal Carolina University

4-3,0-0Sun Belt

Mercer

Coastal Carolina

Team

12/6/2021 11:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Bears won 74-69 in Conway, S.C.

By: Jake List

CONWAY S.C. – Coach Greg Gary and the Bears earn their second road win, not in a neutral setting, of the 2021-2022 season over Coastal Carolina. The Bears won 74-69 in the HTC Center while four Bears scored in double digits. The overall series is now tied at 2-2.

Mercer (6-4, 0-0 SoCon) got 16 points apiece from Jalen Johnson and James Glisson III and won its fourth consecutive game, splitting them down the middle with two of those wins being at home and two away. Johnson was one rebound short of a double-double for the third time this season. Felipe Haase added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and recorded seven rebounds. Kamar Robertson was the fourth highest scoring Bear and added to the tally with 12 points, two of them coming from very clutch free throws with .06 seconds left in the second half. These efforts plus quality minutes held by Shawn Walker Jr. and a great first half performance by Neftali Alvarez is what led the Bears to their road win in South Carolina.

Coastal Carolina (4-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) had its senior guard Vince Cole and "senior reserve" forward Wilfried Likayi record season highs of 17 and 15 points, respectively. Nevertheless, it wasn't enough to overcome the Bears. Cole was the only Chanticleer to find the basket in the first 10 minutes of gameplay. Cole had a pair of early buckets and then hit another amid a 7-0 run for the Chants that cut the deficit down to eight close to the end of the first half. CCU would come even closer with a pair of long-range jumpers from the corner, making it 35-30 as each team entered the break.

The two teams would then battle back and forth for the remainder of the game. When it came down to it, some key loose ball wins, steals, and threes that for some reason went in tonight would end up being enough for the Bears to hand the Chanticleers their third loss of the season. This loss tonight ended the Chanticleers two-game winning streak, one of those coming off their most recent impressive 24-point win over South Carolina. Tonight's loss also ended their 10-game home winning streak. The loss leaves them at 4-3 on the season.

NOTABLES

Johnson and Glisson III led the Bears with 16 points each.
Johnson was one rebound away from his first Mercer double-double.
Haase and Robertson tallied 25 points.
Shawn Walker Jr. tallied 33 minutes.
Two Bears went 2-2 from the FT line. (Robertson, Glisson III)
There were four Bears in double digits. (Johnson, Robertson, Haase, Glisson III)

UP NEXT
Mercer will host their annual Macon Made Game against Georgia Southern on Dec. 11 with the tip-off slated for 2 p.m. The matchup on Saturday can be viewed on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, SportsMic) with Rick Cameron on the call.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW/478 GAME!
Purchase your 2021-22 season tickets here to watch the Bears in action at Hawkins Arena. Fans buy your Macon Made tickets for Mercer's next home matchup on the Dec. 11 against Georgia Southern in Hawkins Arena by clicking the link here!

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.