Bears Suffer 85-61 Defeat in Regular Season Finale

Saturday, February 27

Cullowhee, N.C.

1:00 PM

Mercer University

15-10,8-9SoCon

Western Carolina

11-15,4-13SoCon

Mercer

Western Caro.

Photo by: Will Stone

Bears Suffer 85-61 Defeat in Regular Season Finale

2/27/2021 9:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Neftali Alvarez scored 16 points in the loss.

By: Kraig Doremus

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Mercer Bears jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but the Western Carolina Catamouts' high-powered offense shot better than 72 percent in the first half en route to an 85-61 victory in the regular season finale.

With the loss, the Bears are locked in as the No. 7 seed for the upcoming Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Presented by General Shale and will take on No. 10 Samford in the first round on Friday at 8 p.m. from the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

Mercer (15-10, 8-9 SoCon) scored the first seven points of the game with Ross Cummings knocking down a trey less than 15 seconds into the game to pass James Florence for sole possession of second all-time in Mercer basketball history with 243 treys. Jeff Gary and James Glisson III contributed the final four points to the run, which lasted 79 seconds.

Western Carolina's (11-15, 4-13 SoCon) Corey Hightower sparked a 12-0 spurt for the Catamounts, contributing 10 of team's points as they pulled ahead by five before Glisson III's two-handed jam with 14:48 to play stopped the run. The Catamounts extended their lead to 20-11 with 12:03 to go in the opening half, but Glisson III answered again, this time with straight four points.

Mercer got as close as four when Neftali Alvarez knocked down a three-pointer prior to the under-eight timeout, and the Bears battled, staying within single digits until Matt Halvorsen made it a 32-22 game with 4:52 to play until halftime. Glisson III's free throw with 2:28 remaining was the last time the Bears were within single digits. Western Carolina embarked on an 8-0 run which ended Patrick Urey made two free throws with no time on the clock. The Catamounts, however, still took a 45-29 advantage into the locker room.

Hightower gave the home team its first 20-point lead of the day less than two minutes into the final half, but Alvarez responded with a 5-0 run to pull the Orange & Black within 15, 52-37, prior to the 16-minute mark.The Bears' deficit hovered around 20 points until the midway point of the second half when the Catamounts went on a quick 8-0 run, extending their lead to 28, 73-45, with 8:24 to play.

After trading baskets with the home squad, the Mercer reserves scored six unanswered points as Shannon Grant, Jacksen Greco and Victor Bafutto each found their way into the scoring column in the 62-second run. Mercer's Mitch Prendergast and Western Carolina's Tyler McGhie both hit late three-pointers with McGhie's, the latter of the two, coming with 1:27 to go. Down 29, Baffuto and Diego Rivera combined for the final five points of the evening in the 85-61 defeat.

Mercer shot 11-of-29 (39.3 percent) in the first half before improving to 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) over the last 20 minutes. For the game, the Bears knocked down 24 of their 56 tries (42.9 percent) with both Alvarez and Glisson III reaching double figures. Alvarez scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 3-of-3 at the charity stripe, while Glisson III added 11 points, missing just one of his six attempts. The Bears got a boost from Grant who maximized his six minutes of action going 4-of-6 from the floor for eight points along with one rebound.

Western Carolina shot a scorching 72 percent (18-of-25) in the first half, and despite cooling off in the final half, still knocked down 17-of-33 (51.5 percent) field goals in the last half. The Catamounts shot better than 60 percent for the game, connecting on 35-of-58 (60.3 percent) shot attempts. Hightower paced the victors with 16 points and a game-high seven assists. Cork turned in a 14-point, 10-rebound performance for a double-double, while Halvorsen also scored 14. Kameron Gibson (13 points) and Mason Faulkner (12 points) rounded out Western Carolina's double figure scorers.

Coach Greg Gary Quotable

Full Audio

ON THE GAME
"When you do not have effort and fight, teams will do that to you. It is surprising we did not come out with more fight. A lot of Western Carolina's three-pointers were in rhythm and open, so that is our fault. We had played well up to this point. It is only one game, but it is disappointing that we had something to play for and did not do what we were supposed to do. We did not compete [tonight], but we will compete [at the Southern Conference tournament] next week."

NOTABLES

The Bears and Catamounts split the season series as each team successfully defended its home court.
Cummings passed James Florence for second all-time in Mercer history with 243 made three-pointers. Langston Hall holds the record with 256 makes.
The Bears went 9-of-9 at the charity stripe, hitting all their tries at the line for the first time since March 4, 2017 against ETSU (14-of-14).
Mercer has shot at least 80 percent at the line in four of its past five contests.
In the last five games, the Orange & Black are 44-of-51 (86.3) at the free throw line.
Alvarez reached double figures in two of Mercer's three contests this week. He has scored at least 10 points in nine of the Bears' last 11 games.
Glisson III has scored in double figures in four consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Rivera made the most of his 10 minutes in Saturday's loss, setting season-highs in points and assists with three of each.
Bafutto (four points) and Prendergast (three points) both set season-highs in points.
Grant appeared in two of Mercer's three games in the final week of the regular season, scoring 18 points in 16 minutes.
Mercer had the same number of points from the bench as its opponent for the second time this season. Both teams received 25 points from reserves.
Mercer is locked in as the No. 7 seed for the conference tournament and will play No. 10 Samford at 8 p.m. on Friday in Asheville, N.C.

UP NEXT
The seventh-seeded Bears will take on No. 10 Samford on Friday 8 p.m. in the 2021 edition of the Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Presented by General Shale at the Harrah's Cherokee Center is Asheville, N.C. Fans can watch all the action live on ESPN+ or listen to the Mercer Sports Network (100.9 The Creek, SportsMic) with Rick Cameron on the call.

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.