Bears Beat the Bucs in Hawkins

Wednesday, February 16

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

ETSU

Photo by: Kayla Davis

2/16/2022 11:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer defeats ETSU, 65-56, in Macon

By: Jake List

MACON, Ga. - The Mercer men's basketball team earned a crucial 65-56 victory in Southern Conference basketball action at Hawkins Arena on Thursday night. Mercer was down by nine going into halftime, but the Bears' defense in the second half held the Buccaneers to a season-low fourteen points and Mercer rallied to a nine-point victory.

The Bears improve to 15-13 overall and 8-7 in the Southern Conference, while the Bucs drop to 13-15 overall and 5-10 in conference play.

Mercer saw three Bears score in double figures. Felipe Haase led all Bears with 17 points, followed by Jalen Johnson with 16 points. Off the bench, Shannon Grant provided Mercer with 13 points on 5-6 shooting and pulling down six rebounds, four of those rebounds were on the offensive end. Jovan Tucker also contributed big off the bench with a career high 8 points and going 2-2 from behind the arc.

It was a slow start for the Bears and Bucs. At the first media timeout, ETSU and Mercer only scored a combined six points with the Bucs leading 4-2.

Grant would keep up the game's momentum by scoring Mercer's first six points. ETSU's Matt Nunez scored to put the Bucs up 13-6, but on the next two Mercer possessions Johnson and Haase would connect on back-to-back threes to pull within three points of the Bucs, 15-12 with 12:12 remaining in the first half.

The Bears and Bucs battled back and forth for the next couple minutes. ETSU's Jordan King made a three-pointer off a fast break to give the Bucs an eight-point lead right before the under 12-minute media timeout.

Coming out of the media timeout, ETSU would extend their lead to nine with a three by David Sloan. The Bears answered right away with a three by Jovan Tucker to cut the lead to six, 26-20.

ETSU's King would extend the Bucs lead to 10 after making another three-pointer with 6:52 remaining in the half. King led ETSU with 15 points and 3 three-pointers in the first half.

Mercer would continue to battle for the rest of the first half, but the Bucs went into halftime with a nine-point lead, 42-33.

It was all Mercer in the second half. ETSU's Ledarrius Brewer made a layup on their first offensive possession to open the second half, but Mercer's defense would not allow another basket until the Bucs scored again with 10:04 remaining in the game.

During ETSU scoring drought, Mercer's Johnson and Haase would combine to score ten of the Bears next fourteen points to give the Bears a 46-44 lead with 11:25 remaining in the game.

The Bucs battled back to tie the game at 50-50 with 7:27 remaining, but the Bear's Tucker would take the ball in for a layup on the next possession to take the lead back, 52-50. The Bears defense held the Bucs to only four points for the rest of the game. The Bears would eventually go on to force a total of 11 turnovers, have five blocks, and hold the Bucs to a season-low points scored in a single half. Mercer ended the game on a 13-6 run to beat ETSU, 65-56, in Hawkins Arena.

FINAL SCORE:

2H | This is what heart looks like! Hard fought win tonight for the Bears. A home win always feels that much better‼️#LetsRoar x #BearNation | #LightTheBridge pic.twitter.com/bwprzWvcrT
— Mercer Men's Basketball (@MercerMBB) February 17, 2022

MERCER STANDOUTS:
- Felipe Haase: 17 Points and 3-3 FT
- Jalen Johnson: 16 Points and 5-11 FG.
- Shannon Grant: 13 Points in 5-6 FG shooting.
- Jovan Tucker: 8 Points on 3-3 FG shooting.
- Shawn Walker Jr.: 5 points with an impactful three pointer.

HIGHLIGHTS:
- WALKER JR.'S THREE
- HAASE'S AND ONE
- TUCKER'S THREE

UP NEXT:
The Bears will travel to Cullowhee, N.C to meet Western Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 19 in the Ramsey Center. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. ET and can be streamed on ESPN+ or heard on the Mercer Sports Network with Rick Cameron on the call.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW:
The Bears' next home game is on Wednesday, Feb. 23 against The Citadel at 7 p.m.

Tickets for this game can be purchased HERE

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.