Second Half Sinks ETSU

Monday, January 17

Macon, Ga.

5 P.M.

Mercer University

ETSU

Photo by: James Thomas

1/17/2022 8:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Four Bears in double-figures lead to 66-54 win over Bucs

MACON, Ga. – A thirty-point outburst in the second half led to the fourth consecutive league win for Mercer. 16 points from Amoria Neal-Tysor and a third double-double of the season for Jaron Dougherty led the Bears (11-5, 4-0 SoCon) to the 12-point victory over ETSU (1-14, 0-2 SoCon) behind 12 points and 11 boards. Endia Banks contributed 14 points and six rebounds while Shannon Titus added 11 points and 7 boards. Mercer held the visiting Bucs to 35% from the field and collected 18 second chance points while the Bucs just tallied a pair. Neal-Tysor drained all six of her attempts from the free throw line.

How it Happened
Both sides traded a basket in the first two minutes before Mercer found more luck when Neal-Tysor, Titus and Dougherty tallied seven unanswered for what was their third-highest lead of the contest. ETSU rattled off eight of the next eleven to bring the game to three points until the Bears pushed the margin back to eight at the quarter's end. A quick jumper by Titus stretched the Mercer lead to 10, but the lead that size was short lived as the Bucs chipped it all of the way down to just a point nearly four minutes into the quarter. The period would end in back-and-forth fashion and finish with a slim 36-34 lead for the hosts.

Mercer used a 10-0 run over the second half's opening three-plus minutes to finally separate the two sides. While the Bears did not trail in the game's entirety, ETSU did get the deficit down to as few as four before it got back up to double digits for the rest of it. 12 of the 18 third quarter's points were split evenly between Banks, Neal-Tysor and Titus. Dougherty snagged six of her 11 rebounds in the second half to keep the Bears in line for the win.

Notables
• The Bears have now won their fifth game in a row, which is the longest streak of the season
• Dougherty, Neal-Tysor and Titus have all scored 10+ in three of the four conference games
• Mercer has now won four of the series' last six over these foes from Johnson City, Tenn.
• Mercer has won their first four league games for the second consecutive season and the fifth time since joining the SoCon in 2014-15

Up Next
Furman will pay a visit to Hawkins Arena on this upcoming Thursday, January 20. Tip between the Bears and Paladins is set for 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on 100.9 FM The Creek and SportsMic as "The Voice of the Bears," Rick Cameron, will be on the call.

Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @Mercer_WBB (Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @Mercerwbb (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.