Bears Head to Cullowhee for Regular Season Finale

MACON, Ga. – With Southern Conference tournament seeding on the line, the Mercer Bears will close out the regular season against the Western Carolina Catamounts at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 | 1:00 p.m.
Matchup: Mercer (15-9, 8-8 SoCon) at Western Carolina (10-15, 3-13 SoCon)
Location: Culllowhee, N.C. | Ramsey Center
Live Stats: bit.ly/3bLxddk
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

BEARS WIN ON SENIOR NIGHT IN OVERTIME
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). e became the 10th 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.

17TH AND CLIMBING
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' 1,212 points rank him 17th in program history.

Rk.       Name                               Pts.
12.       Stewart Reese                1,348
13.       Woodrow Richardson 1,266
14.       Aleem Muhammad 1,261
15.       Richard Reid                 1,246
16.       Bruce Gordy                1,227
17.       Ross Cummings              1.212

TYING JAMES FLORENCE WITH MORE TO COME
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. On Feb. 24, which was also his Senior Night, Cummings knocked down four three-pointers to tie Florence for second all-time in program history. He needs just 15 treys to overtake Hall for the program record.

Rk.       Name 3's
1          Langston Hall 256
T-2.      Ross Cummings          242
T-2.      James Florence           242
4.         E.J. Kusnyer                  190
5.         Bud Thomas                161

CUMMINGS ONE OF 10 SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALISTS
Mercer redshirt senior guard Ross Cummings was recently named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. The committee narrowed down the original list of 30 to 10 student-athletes. 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 fan vote makes up part of the voting for the award which will be announced at the 2021 NCAA Men's Final Four. Fans can vote at www.seniorclassaward.com/vote. Voting ends March 22.

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
The redshirt senior guard is among the Southern Conference's active career scoring leaders.

Name                           School             Yr. Points
Isaiah Miller                 UNCG             Sr.        1,851
Storm Murphy           Wofford Sr.        1.279
David Jean-Baptiste UTC Sr.        1,271
Matt Halvorsen WCU                Sr.        1,242
Clay Mounce               Furman           Sr.        1,240
Ross Cummings Mercer             R-Sr.    1,212

CUMMINGS IN THE NCAA STATS RANKINGS
The Dickson, Tenn., native is featured the NCAA statistical rankings for both the season and his career. See below for more info.

Category        Season/Career Rank Percent/Number
3 PT FGM        Season                        8          69 Makes
3PT FG%         Season                        13 44.23%
3 PT FG/GM    Season                        28        2.88
3 PT FGM        Career                         25        242 Makes
3 PT FG%        Career                         32        41.40%

DON'T LEAVE HIM OPEN! CUMMINGS AMONG SOCON'S BEST FROM DISTANCE
The sharpshooting Cummings is third among active SoCon players career in three-pointers made.

Name School             Yr.        3's
Matt Halvorsen            WCU                Sr.        292
Kaiden Rice Citadel             Sr.        271
Ross Cummings          Mercer             R-Sr.    242

SHARING IS CARING
The Bears are fifth nationally in total assists.

Rank    Ast.    School
1. 476      Belmont
2.         454      Iowa
3.         432      Gonzaga
4.         423      Eastern Kentucky
5.         413      Mercer
6. 393      Murray State
7. 401      St. John's
T-8       396      Oakland
T-8       396      Toledo
10. 392      Abilene Christian

POINTS FROM OVERSEAS
Mercer ranks eighth nationally in points from players overseas.

Rank    PPG. School
1. 59.6     Cal Baptist
2. 41.6     Hawaii
3. 40.9     Montana State
4.         40.8     Grand Canyon
5.         35.8     Northeastern
6.         35.8     Oregon
7.         34.9     St. Mary's
8. 32.6    Mercer
9.         32.2     Utah
10.       31.9 Davidson

HOME RECORD IN 2020-21
With the win over Chattanooga on Wednesday night, the Bears closed out the home portion of the schedule with a 9-4 record. Since the 2016-17 season, Mercer is 46-26 overall in Hawkins.

SEEDING ON THE LINE
Seeding for the Southern Conference tournament is on the line in Mercer's Southern Conference finale at Western Carolina on Saturday. The Bears and Keydets of VMI are both .500 in Southern Conference play. Mercer owns the tiebreaker with VMI thanks to an 83-80 win in January at home. The Keydets have completed their season, so Mercer controls its own destiny. With a win, the Orange & Black will secure the No. 6 six seed and not have to play on the first day of the tournament. A loss will drop Mercer to seventh in the standings and cause the Bears to play on the opening day of the SoCon tournament against the No. 10 seed.

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.

Bears Head to Cullowhee for Regular Season Finale

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Players Mentioned

Ross Cummings

Kamar Robertson

Ethan Stair

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