Bears Top Mocs in Overtime on Senior Night, 81-77

Wednesday, February 24

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

15-9,8-8SoCon

Chattanooga

18-7,9-7SoCon

OT 1

Chattanooga

Mercer

Photo by: Kayla Davis

Bears Top Mocs in Overtime on Senior Night, 81-77

2/25/2021 12:41:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Ross Cummings hit the game-tying three-pointer, while Kamar Robertson poured in a career-best 28 points.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – In sports, every now and then the stars align just right, and that is what happened inside Hawkins Arena for Ross Cummings on Senior Night Wednesday evening.

Cummings' three-pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation tied Mercer's contest with Chattanooga at 68, and stellar defense from the Bears forced the Mocs into a miss on the other end. With his parents in the stands and recognition from the coaching staff before the game, the game-tying three-pointer was a fitting moment for Cummings as he ended his Hawkins Arena career. The Bears went on to prevail in overtime, 81-77.

Kamar Robertson was another major storyline for the Bears. The sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., came off the bench and did not miss, going 12-for-12 for a career-best 28 points. His 12-for-12 night set the Hawkins Arena record for field goal percentage (min. eight makes), and he became the 10^th Southern Conference player to shoot perfect from the floor (min. 10 makes). Robertson is tied with Ashley Champion for second in the SoCon record books. Furman's Russ Hunt sits atop the charts thanks to a 14-for-14 outing against Appalachian State on December 9, 1971.

Mercer played from behind for the majority of the contest, leading for only 9:32 of the 45 minutes. The contest featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes.

The Bears (15-9, 8-8 SoCon) made just one of their first seven shots over the opening 5:27 while Chattanooga made four its first nine tries to force the home team to fall behind early, 11-2, and burn a timeout. Robertson entered the game following the timeout and immediately made his presence known for what would be a historic night. The sophomore point guard scored on three of the Bears' next five possessions with a layup from Jovan Tucker and triple from Cummings also contributing to an 11-2 Mercer run over 3:37, which tied the game at 13.

Chattanooga (18-7, 9-7 SoCon) answered the Orange & Black's run with a 7-0 spurt of its own before Felipe Haase connected from beyond the arc, and James Glisson III hit a layup. With five unanswered points, Mercer pulled within a basket, but the Mocs responded once again via a trey from Malachi Smith and five points from Stefan Kenic pushing their lead to 10, 28-18, with 5:19 remaining until the intermission.

In a make-or-break first half moment, Robertson came up big for the Bears, driving into the paint and finishing through contact before nailing a free throw to make it a 28-21 contest. Robertson's field goal was his fourth of the night. He knocked down his fifth shot of the evening with 19 ticks of the clocking left to send the Bears to the locker room down only six, 31-25.

Chattanooga put the first points on the board in the second half thanks to Smith going 1-of-2 at the charity stripe, but Robertson embarked on an 8-0 run by himself – hitting a layup, three-pointer, free throw and jumper – before Glisson III contributed a layup. The 10-0 run put the Bears ahead by three, 35-32, but the Orange & Black's lead lasted only 63 seconds before Smith's connection from beyond the arc knotted the game at 35-all with 14:58 to go in regulation.

At the under-12 media timeout, the Mocs held a one-point lead, but Robertson continued to pour in points, with five more after his free throw with 16:01 left.

Mercer took the lead again when Cummings connected from downtown off a pass from Alvarez with 11:18 to play, but the visitors answered. This time, KC Hankton tied the game before Neftali Alvarez and Haase embarked on a 5-0 run to return the lead to the home team.

The Mocs fought back to tie game twice but did not pull ahead until the 4:58 mark when David Jean-Baptiste knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key, making it a 56-55 game. Chattanooga's lead lasted 40 seconds as Glisson III slammed the ball home with 4:08 to play, sending the fans in Hawkins Arena to their feet as the Orange & Black held a 57-56 advantage. The Bears extended their lead to 59-56 off Robertson's layup, but Chattanooga's Jean-Baptiste made his fourth three-pointer to tie the Southern Conference battle.

The Mocs led by three on two occasions within the final two minutes, the last coming with a mere 13 seconds remaining when Smith was successful on both of his tries at the charity stripe. Mercer inbounded the ball and the Mocs used both of their fouls to give, setting up a Mercer inbounds play with 7.5 seconds to go. After a timeout, Jeff Gary lobbed the ball over the Chattanooga defense to Haase who caught the jumped to catch the ball, fending off Darius Banks. Glisson III screened Hankton, allowing Cummings to get open on the left wing. Haase promptly hit Cummings who rose up and swished a trey, sending both the crowd and the Mercer bench into a frenzy.

Following an official review, 3.7 seconds remained, but the Bears locked in on the defensive end to send the game to overtime, forcing Smith to miss a floater in the lane.
Cummings opened overtime the way he ended regulation, knocking a significant trey. It was his fourth three-pointer of the night and 242^nd for his career, which tied him with James Florence for second all-time in program history. Chattanooga's Banks answered to even the score at 71-71 less than a minute into extra time. Jean-Baptist nailed a trey for the Mocs with 3:17 left, but Glisson III muscled his way into the layup and was fouled as he made a layup. The sophomore forward was successful at the charity stripe, putting Mercer ahead 15 seconds prior to the halfway mark of the extra period. The Mocs' final lead came with 1:45 to play when none other than Jean-Baptiste knocked down a trey. His three-pointer gave Chattanooga a narrow 75-74 advantage, but Alvarez took matters into his own hands to end the night.

First, the Cantano, P.R., native went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to tie the game before making a layup with 46 seconds to play. The layup gave Middle Georgia's team a 77-75 advantage. Hankton was unsuccessful with 26 seconds left, but a steal by Jean-Baptiste gave them another opportunity. Jean-Baptist fired an errant three-pointer, but Smith kept the possession alive with a huge offensive rebound. After a timeout, Jean-Baptiste coughed up the basketball, which eventually found its way to Alvarez. Alvarez was fouled and made two free throws, putting the game out of reach as Mercer improved to 15-9 overall and 8-8 in Southern Conference play with the 81-77 overtime victory.

In addition to Robertson's 28 points on 12-of-12 shooting, Cummings added 14 points. He grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and tied his career-best with seven dimes. Alvarez and Glisson III each contributed 11 points. After shooting 40.7 percent (11-of-27) in the first half, the Bears were a scorching 65.4 percent (17-of-26) in the second half and 3-of-5 (60.0 percent) in overtime. The Orange & Black ended the night 31-of-58 (53.4 percent).

Jean-Baptiste led Chattanooga with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting in the loss while Smith also surpassed 20 points, ending the loss with 22 on 7-of-13 shooting. Five of his seven makes came from three-point land. Despite shooting just 3-of-9 from the floor, Banks scored 12, and Caldwell, who shot 4-of-6, added 10. Chattanooga hit 37.9 percent of its shots (11-of-29) but improved to 17-of-33 (51.5 percent) in the second half and overtime to end the night 28-of-62 (45.2 percent).

Coach Greg Gary Quotables

Full Audio

ON KAMAR ROBERTSON
"He really stepped up for us. We don't win the game if he doesn't play the way he did. We were lethargic and out of it at the beginning. He gave us an unbelievable boost He is a great player and person and continues to consistently work on his game. It has been hard on him because he was injured the whole summer and missed all of preseason. I know he wants to play and produce more. Tonight was his night, and I was really happy for him. He played great."

ON MALACHI SMITH AND DAVID JEAN-BAPTISTE
"They are good players. From a physical standpoint we have to do a better job of giving some resistance. We were not in it defensively. I told one of the assistants that we had to outscore those guys [Smith and Jean-Baptiste]."

ON THE FINAL PLAY OF REGULATION
"The team did a great job executing what we drew up in the huddle. Ross had not shot the ball well all night, but it did not matter. He has a short memory. He can shoot the basketball, so I wanted to put the ball in his hands again because he has made big shots and will continue shooting."

ON NEFTALI ALVAREZ'S FREE THROWS IN OVERTIME
"I stuck with him at the end. He is a winner and makes plays, especially at the end of games. He made huge free throws to ice the win for us."

ON MAKING PLAYS DOWN THE STRETCH
"Our guys made plays offensively and on the defensive end they got stops. That is the difference in the game."

ON THE SEASON FINALE AT WESTERN CAROLINA
"Western Carolina has been down a bit but played well against UNCG tonight. We have to finish strong [on Saturday]."

NOTABLES

The two teams split the season series with each squad winning at home.
Prior to the game, the coaching staff honored Cummings, who was joined by his parents for a special presentation.
Robertson had a career night, going 12-for-12 for 28 points. His 12-for-12 evening set the field goal percentage record for Hawkins Arena (min. eight makes). Desmond Ringer previously held the record after going 10-of-11 (90.9 percent) against Wofford in January 2016.
Tonight was Robertson's first time in double figures since the 2020 Southern Conference Tournament.
Robertson accounted for nearly 35 percent of Mercer's points.
Cummings passed Pete Geter for 17^th all-time on the Mercer scoring list and tied James Florence for second all-time with 242 made three-pointers.
Cummings set a career-high in rebounds with eight and matched his career-best with seven assists.
With his 11-point outing Alvarez reached double figures for the third time in four games.
Glisson III has been in double figures for three consecutive contests. He last did so as a freshman between November 15-23, 2019.
The Orange & Black's 22 assists are tied for its second-most this season. Mercer had 23 helpers against Southern Wesleyan.
Mercer shot at least 80 percent from the free throw line for the third time in its last four games.
The Bears finished the year 9-4 at home.
Mercer improved to 3-0 in overtime games.
Gary's Bears are 9-1 when shooting better than 50 percent.
Mercer has won 75 percent (12-of-16) of its games when it shoots better than the opposition.
The Bears improved to better than .500 in Wednesday contests. Mercer is 5-4 overall on hump day.

UP NEXT
The Bears will close out the regular season at Western Carolina on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, SportsMic). Seeding for the Southern Conference Tournament is on the line on Saturday, and the Bears control their own destiny. With a win, Mercer will secure the No. 6 seed for the tournament while a loss will put the Orange & Black seventh.

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.