Mercer to Host Furman in Play4Kay Game

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears men's basketball team is set to begin a three-game home stand on Saturday against Furman in the team's Play4Kay Game at 2 p.m.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021 | 2:00 p.m.
Matchup: Furman (14-7, 6-7 SoCon) at Mercer (13-8, 6-7 SoCon)
Tickets: Click Here
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Hawkins Arena Protocols: Click Here
Live Stats: bit.ly/3sdNDSD
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Radio: SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

BEARS PICK UP CRUCIAL ROAD WIN AT ETSU
Four Bears scored in double figures with Felipe Haase's 19 points leading the way in Wednesday's 71-64 triumph. In the final 30 seconds, Ledarrius Brewer did his best to keep ETSU in the game, knocking down a three-pointer off the dribble to pull the Bucs within three. Ty Brewer nearly stole the inbounds pass as he deflected it out of bounds. Mercer was eventually able to find Ayers III who was found and made two free throws to make it a 69-64 game in favor of the Orange & Black. Mercer locked in on the defensive end with Alvarez blocking David Sloan with eight seconds left. After a scramble for the basketball, Sloan secured the rebound and kicked it to T. Brewer who threw up an errant three-pointer. Alvarez secured the board with less than a second to go and made two free throws to give Mercer a crucial win in Johnson City, 71-64.

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' 1,182 points rank him 20th in program history. He passed Stair, his former teammate, with 15 points on Feb. 13.

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 1,182

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 234 three-pointers made and is 23 away from the record.

Rk.       Name                           3's
1          Langston Hall               256
2.         James Florence           242
3.         Ross Cummings          234
4.         E.J. Kusnyer 190
5.         Bud Thomas 161

RECENT NOTABLE WINS OVER P5 SCHOOLS
Over the last 10 years, Mercer has stunned several Power-5 foes on the court. The Bears' most notable win was during the 2014 NCAA Tournament when Mercer upset No.3 Duke, 78-71, to advance to the second round of the tournament.

Date              Opponent                    Result
12/22/11          at Georgia Tech W, 65-59
12/02/12 at Florida State W, 61-56
12/22/12 at Alabama                  W, 66-59
3/20/13 at Tennessee               W, 75-67
12/22/13 at Mississippi               W, 79-76
3/21/14 Duke W, 78-71
12/19/15          at Arkansas W, 69-66(OT)
11/27/20 at Georgia Tech           W, 83-73

CUMMINGS A CANDIDATE: SENIOR GUARD ONE OF 30 SENIOR C.L.A.S.S. AWARD CANDIDATES
Mercer redshirt senior guard Ross 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
Ross Cummings is among the Southern Conference's active career scoring leaders.

Name                           School             Yr.        Points
Isaiah Miller                 UNCG Sr.        1,796
Storm Murphy           Wofford          Sr.        1.268
David Jean-Baptiste  UTC                 Sr.        1,236
Clay Mounce Furman Sr.        1,228
Matt Halvorsen WCU Sr.        1,223
Ross Cummings          Mercer R-Sr.    1,182

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                        15 44.20%
3 PT FGM        Season                        19 61 Makes
3 PT FG/GM    Season                        27 2.90
3PT FG%         Career 33 41.30%
3 PT FGM        Career 31 234 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.        287
Kaiden Rice                 Citadel Sr.        269
Ross Cummings Mercer R-Sr.    234

SHARING IS CARING
The Bears are tied for ninth in the nation in total assists,
Rank   Ast.      School
1. 426 Belmont
2.         415 Iowa
3.         385 Gonzaga
4.         380      Toledo
5.         379 McNeese
6.         374 St. John's
7.         371 Abilene Christian
8.         365      Murray State
T-9.      364      Mercer
T-9.      364      Loyola Chicago

POINTS FROM OVERSEAS
The Bears are ninth in the country in points per game from international players.
Rank    PPG.    School
1. 59.5     Cal Baptist
2. 40.9     Montana State
3. 39.6 Hawaii
4. 37.9 Grand Canyon
5. 37.1 Oregon
6. 35.8 Northeastern
7. 35.3 St. Mary's
8. 33.5 Davidson
9. 33.1 Mercer
10. 31.5 Utah

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

Ross Cummings

Felipe Haase

Ethan Stair

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