Orange & Black Set Sights on ETSU

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears are set to embark on a trip to Johnson City, Tenn. to battle the ETSU Bucs on Wednesday evening in Freedom Hall.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 | 7:00 p.m.
Matchup: Mercer (12-8, 5-7 SoCon) at ETSU (12-9, 8-5 SoCon)
Location: Johnson City, Tenn. | Freedom Hall
Live Stats: bit.ly/3bbQ695
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Game Notes: Mercer | ETSU
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

MERCER'S RALLY AGAINST UNCG FALLS SHORT
Mercer's shot at the buzzer on Saturday bounced off the rim and out as the Bears' second half rally fell short with UNCG claiming a 77-74 win in Hawkins Arena. Leon Ayers III shot 50 percent from the floor and caught fire from three-point range, hitting four of his six tries. He paced the Orange & Black with a game-high 17 points while Cummings added 15 on 6-of-14 shooting. Jeff Gary led all Mercer reserves with 14 points, going 3-of-5 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Wednesday, the Bears travel to Johnson City, Tenn. to take on ETSU. Mercer connected on 26-of-56 (46.4 percent) of its shots in the contest and 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) of its tries from beyond the arc.

STEADILY CLIMBING THE SCORING RANKS
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. 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' 1,172 points rank him 20th in program history. He passed Stair, his former teammate, with 15 points on Saturday.

Rk.       Name                           Pts.
15.       Richard Reid                1,246
16.       Bruce Gordy                1,227
17.       Pete Geter                    1.206
18.       Jordan Strawberry 1,200
19.       Scott Bailey                  1,197
20.       Ross Cummings 1,172

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 232 three-pointers made and is 25 away from the record.

Rk.       Name                           3's
1          Langston Hall               256
2.         James Florence           242
3.         Ross Cummings          232
4.         E.J. Kusnyer 190
5.         Bud Thomas 161

CUMMINGS A CANDIDATE: SENIOR GUARD ONE OF 30 SENIOR C.L.A.S.S. AWARD CANDIDATES
Cummings was the lone Southern Conference men's basketball player selected as a candidate for the Senior C.L.A.S.S. Award, the committee announced. Only 30 NCAA Division I men's basketball players nationwide are selected as candidates for the prestigious award. To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

A decorated student, Cummings is currently working towards his Masters in Higher Education Leadership and boasts a near perfect GPA. He has been named to the Southern Conference's Academic Honor Roll on two occasions.

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

Name                           School             Yr.        Points
Isaiah Miller                 UNCG             Sr.        1,777
Storm Murphy           Wofford           Sr. 1.242
Clay Mounce               Furman           Sr.        1,228
David Jean-Baptiste UTC Sr.        1,224
Matt Halvorsen WCU                Sr. 1,206
Ross Cummings Mercer            R-Sr. 1,172

CUMMINGS IN THE NCAA STATS RANKINGS
Ross Cummings is featured the NCAA statistical rankings for both the season and his career. See below for more info.

Category        Season/Career          Rank    Percent/Number
3PT FG%         Season                        14 44.36%
3 PT FGM        Season                        18        59 Makes
3 PT FG/GM    Season                        23 2.95
3PT FG%         Career                         33        41.4
3 PT FGM        Career                         33 232 Makes

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.        282
Kaiden Rice                 Citadel Sr.        263
Ross Cummings        Mercer R-Sr. 232

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./Gm 7.8
3.         Def. Reb./Gm   6.4
T-16. Off.Reb./Gm 1.4

HOME SWEET HOME
Hawkins Arena has been kind to the Bears in recent years. Each of the past two seasons, Mercer has gone 9-6 on their home floor. In 2017-18, the Bears were 11-3 inside Hawkins Arena. Below is Mercer's record at home since the 2016-17 campaign. Mercer is 44-25 at home since that campaign.

Season          Record
2016-17            8-7
2017-18            11-3
2018-19            9-6
2019-20           9-6
2020-21 7-3
Total                44-25

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

Leon Ayers III

Ross Cummings

Jeff Gary

Felipe Haase

Ethan Stair

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