Bears Fall to UNCG in SoCon Championship

Monday, March 8

Asheville, N.C.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

18-11,8-9SoCon

UNCG (Championship)

21-8,13-5SoCon

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

Photo by: Titouan Le Roux

3/8/2021 10:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer placed three individuals on the all-tournament team.

By: Kraig Doremus

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – An incredible run in the Southern Conference Tournament came to an end for the Mercer men's basketball team in the winner-take-all title game on Monday night with a 69-61 loss to the top-seeded UNCG Spartans.

The seventh-seeded Bears won three games in as many days to reach the championship, defeating No. 10 Samford (87-59), No. 2 Wofford (62-61) and No. 6 VMI (73-59). Mercer was unable to become the first SoCon team to win four straight games to hoist the championship trophy since former league member Clemson did so in 1939.

Leon Ayers III and James Glisson III paced the Bears with 16 points each. Glisson III went 7-of-8 from the floor for his best shooting percentage of the season (min. two makes) while Ayers III was 5-of-11. Felipe Haase also reached double figures with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting and went 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. He turned in his second straight double-double by grabbing 10 boards as well. A trio of Bears – Neftali Alvarez, Ayers III and Haase were named to the all-tournament first team. Mercer shot 22-of-54 (40.7) in the championship game but was a cold 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from beyond the arc. The Bears eclipsed the 90 percent mark at the charity stripe (12-of-13, 92.3 percent) for the fourth time this season.

UNCG's Isaiah Miller led the Spartans with a game-best 25 points and received Southern Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. He grabbed 13 rebounds for the double-double and 10-of-20 (50 percent) from the floor despite struggling mightily at the charity stripe making only 5-of-13 tries (38.6 percent). Keyshaun Langley joined Miller in double figures with 15 points. The Spartans shot 0.4 percent worse than the Bears, hitting 25-of-62 (40.3 percent) of their shots. UNCG was not much better than Mercer from beyond the arc with only a 26.1 shooting percentage (6-of-23). Miller was not the only Spartan to struggle at the charity stripe. The Spartans were only 13-of-26 (50 percent) from the line as a squad.

Mercer fell to 18-11 overall while UNCG improved to 21-8.

UNCG's Keyshaun Langley scored the first points of the game, but Mercer answered with five of its own – a thunderous dunk by Glisson III and the first of three three-pointers from Hasse to pull in front, 5-3, 1:11 into the contest. Haase did not wait long to drain his second triple of the evening as he connected from beyond the arc to tie the game at eight-all prior to the 15-minute mark. Each time either team went on a run, the opposing squad had an answer, setting the stage for a thrilling night inside the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

With 7:49 to play in the first half, Miller hit a jumper to tie the title game at 23, but Ayers III responded with a triple to give the Bears their largest lead of the first half, 26-23. A 6-0 run by the Spartans, capped off with a Khyre Thompson trey, put UNCG back in front. Ayers III showed no fear on the big stage, providing an answer for the Bears with an old-fashioned three-point play. His nifty drive into the lane and ensuring free throw tied things at 29 with 2:05 until the intermission.

The Spartans took a 31-29 lead before Haase knocked down what would be his final three-pointer of the night with 29 seconds left in the first half. His trey, which came off a pass from Alvarez, put Mercer ahead, 32-31, but Miller utilized his impressive crossover and hit a step back jumper at the buzzer to send the Bears to the locker room down a single point, 33-32.

Mercer opened the second half with back-to-back jumpers from Glisson III and Ross Cummings, the latter of which returned the lead to the designated visiting team. Mercer's lead was short lived, but Glisson III, who put together perhaps the most impressive outing of his sophomore campaign, used an old-fashioned three-point play to knot the score at 38.

UNCG embarked on an 8-0 run to take a 46-38 lead, but a three-point play by Cummings and layup from Glisson III trimmed the Spartans' advantage to a mere point, 46-45, with 11:34 remaining. Mercer continued to fight, eventually taking the lead when Alvarez scored four quick points in an attempt to turn the momentum in the Bears' favor. His jumper with 7:06 to play gave the Orange & Black a one-point cushion, 51-50, but the lead quickly changed hands three times in only 55 seconds. The last of the three changes went in favor of the Spartans, who took a 55-53 lead off Keyshaun Langley's three-pointer with 5:56 to play.

An incredible display of grit by Alvarez helped Mercer even the score at 58 prior to the last media timeout, but the Bears' offense went cold after the break with three miscues and seven missed shots in the last over the last 2:28 hampering Mercer's chances at taking home the hardware.

UNCG built an eight-point lead, 66-58, with Miller contributing the last six points of the run following Angelo Allegri's dunk. Ayers III layup and free throw with 68 seconds on the clock were Mercer's final points of the night as the Bears did not score in the final 60 seconds. Three free throws from UNCG and missed shots from the Bears, some of which were halfway down the cylinder, allowed the Spartans to secure a 69-61 win and earn the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the big dance.

Coach Greg Gary Quotables

Full Audio

ON JAMES GLISSON III BEING A FORCE INSIDE
"He did a great job. We probably should have thrown it into him more [looking back]. It was great for his development. It is what we have to expect from him. He competed his butt off, all of our guys did. We just made some silly mistakes at the end. You have Isaiah Miller out there for UNCG who makes winning plays. We had to make more. Unfortunately we missed some shots, but we will be here again."

ON UNCG'S ISAIAH MILLER
"He is the best player in our league, so we should know where he is on the court [at all times]. We needed to do a better job of bottling him up."

ON THE FUTURE
"I'm excited about the future. We made a step in the right direction this year. I thought to do what we did this year by making the championship game shows that we are headed in the right direction."

NOTABLES

Mercer went 3-1 in the league tournament.
The Bears' Alvarez, Ayers III and Haase received First Team All SoCon Tournament accolades from the league's media members.
Ayers III led Mercer with a 15.8 points per game average in four tournament contests.
The junior guard shot better than 50 percent in three of the Orange & Black's four games in Asheville, N.C., and scored at least 14 points in each game.
Haase (13.5), Alvarez (12.0) and Glisson (10.5) also averaged at least 10 points per game in tournament action.
Glisson III finished one board shy of a double-double.
His 16 points were a season-high. He shot 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) for his best shooting percentage of the season (min. two made shots).
Glisson III had double figure performances to bookend Mercer's time in the tournament.
Haase turned in his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.
The six-foot-nine forward from Chile averaged 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in Mercer's final two games of the tournament. Over the four-game span, he contributed 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest.
The Bears went 12-of-13 at the charity stripe for their fourth-best percentage of the season, 92.3.
The Orange & Black made at least 10 free throws in 14 of 28 games.
Mercer collected 31 defensive rebounds for the second straight game and surpassed 30 for the ninth contest.
The Bears snagged at least 40 rebounds for the eighth time in 2020-21 and second straight night.
The Orange & Black averaged 41.25 boards per game in tourney action.

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