Men's Hoops Sets Sights on Birmingham

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears will take on the Samford Bulldogs for the second time in as many games, this time in Birmingham, Ala. on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (ET)

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 | 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Matchup: Mercer (11-7, 4-6 SoCon) at Samford (6-9, 2-6 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Pete Hanna Center
Live Stats: bit.ly/3rDjlYY
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Radio: 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic with Rick Cameron on the call
Game Notes: Mercer | Samford
Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB

LAST TIME OUT/TODAY's GAME
The Mercer Bears played a double overtime game on Monday night for the first time since December 2017 and took the lead for good with 58.5 seconds left to top Samford, 89-82, in a Southern Conference thriller. Five Mercer players scored in double figures led by Ross Cummings' 25 points. The Dickson, Tenn. native's season-high came on 9-of-13 shooting including six three-pointers. Cummings also grabbed five boards and passed out three assists in the double overtime triumph. Mercer shot 29-of-68 (42.6 percent) from the floor and 13-of-31 (41.9 percent) from beyond the arc. Wednesday, the Bears will take on Samford in Birmingham at 8 p.m. (ET).

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' 1,44 points rank him 23rd in program history.

Rk.   Name                    Pts.
18. J.Strawberry 1,200
19.   Scott Bailey       1,197
20.   Ethan Stair 1,171
21.   Robert Belloir 1,155
22.   Jakob Gollon 1,153
23.   Ross Cummings 1,144

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 222 three-pointers made and is 35 away from the record.

Rk.       Name                            3's
1           Langston Hall              256
2.         James Florence           242
3.         Ross Cummings          228
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
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 ACTIVE SCORING LEADERS
Cummings is among the Southern Conference's active career scoring leaders.

Name                        School      Yr.        Points
Isaiah Miller            UNCG            Sr.        1,740
Storm Murphy       Wofford      Sr.        1.231
Clay Mounce Furman   Sr.        1,195
Matt Halvorsen WCU              Sr.        1,192
D. Jean-Baptiste UTC              Sr.        1,191
Ross Cummings   Mercer R-Sr.    1,144

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

Name                           School   Yr.        3's
Matt Halvorsen          WCU      Sr.        277
Kaiden Rice                 Citadel Sr.        255
Ross Cummings        Mercer R-Sr.    228

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                  10            45.45%
3 PT FGM       Season              18            55 Makes
3 PT FG/GM Season              22            3.06
3PT FG%       Career                  28            41.5
3 PT FGM       Career              33            228 Makes

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.          8.0
3.        Def.Reb/Gm    6.5
T-15.   Off.Reb/Gm     1.5

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 44-24 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 7-2
Total                44-24

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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