Mercer University
Wofford
Bears Regular Season Finale Set in Spartanburg
2/24/2022 3:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Mercer will travel South Carolina to face the Wofford Terriers on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
MACON, Ga. - The Mercer Bears will finish its regular season with one last trip to Spartanburg, S.C. to face the Wofford Terriers in the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 26 with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. Saturday's game will be available to stream on ESPN+. BEAR NECESSITIES Date: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2022 | 7 p.m. Matchup: Mercer (15-15, 8-9 SoCon ) at Wofford (17-12, 9-8 SoCon) Location: Spartanburg, S.C. | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium Live Stats: SideArm Stats Radio: Listen Here TV: Stream on ESPN+ / Watch Here Twitter Updates: @MercerMBB LAST TIME OUT: The Mercer men's basketball team came up short against The Citadel, 71-67, in its loss inside Hawkins Arena on Wednesday evening. Mercer came back from a 12-point deficit to have the lead with under 10 minutes to go. However, Tyler Moffe's season high 24 points became too much for the Bears and they came up short at home. The Bears move to 15-15 overall and 8-9 in the SoCon, while the Bulldogs moved to 6-11 overall and 12-16 in conference play.
Mercer saw fours Bears score in double figures. Felipe Haase and Shawn Walker Jr. both finished the evening with 12 points. Off the bench, Shannon Grant led Orange and Black with 17 points going 8-11 from the floor while also pulling down five rebounds. Kamar Robertson also contributed off the bench with 13 points and going and impressive 100% from the field as well as the free throw line. The Citadel took an early lead at 15-8 spearheaded by Tyler Moffe and David Maynard. The Bears would eventually and slowly work themselves back into the game with dominant post play from Grant and effective mid-range jumpers from Robertson. After their efforts the game sat at 20-17, the Bulldogs on top, with 8:55 left in the first half. The Citadel's Tyler Moffe was at the helm of the Bulldog offense. Nevertheless, they didn't seem to have answer in trying to stop Grant down low. The two of them would trade baskets back and forth. After their swapping baskets, Haase would soon take over for Mercer with a couple of keys plays and give the Bears a lead of 28-27 with 3:45 remaining. After that last few possessions, Moffe and Hayden Brown would go on to score The Citadel's final seven points of the half. Closing out the first twenty minutes of the game with a 37-30 lead going into halftime. Mercer would eventually find its offensive rhythm in the second half. The battle in Hawkins continued from there. After being down 12 points at the 16:17 mark, the Bears inched back and took the lead again with 11:21 to go. This strong team run was led by Robertson, Haase, Walker Jr. and Grant. Due to their efficiency on the offensive end the bears held a three-point lead 56-53, with 9:22 left. As the half went on, the lead changed two more times. Robertson's successful three to put the Bears up by three with seven minutes to go. Followed up by Walker Jr.'s jumper to tie the game again just four minutes later. In the closing minutes, The Bulldogs success in transition on top of the Bears being unable to capitalize on open opportunities allowed The Citadel to take a comfortable lead as the clock winded down. After trading free throws for the last minute and half of the game, The Citadel was able to pull away in Hawkins Arena giving them their sixth conference win on the season.
SERIES HISTORY: Mercer has won two out of the last three games over the Terriers, yet Wofford leads the recent series, 11-10 as of Dec. 2, 1995. The Bears most recently defeated Wofford earlier in the season 67-62 on Jan. 31 in Hawkins Arena where Mercer finished the game 22-for-48 (45.8 percent) from the field, 8-for-18 (4445 percent) behind the arc, and 15-for-20 (75.0 percent) at the free throw line. SCOUTING THE TERRIERS: Wofford (17-12, 9-8) had Max Klesmit and B.J. Mack combined for 43 points on Wednesday evening, guiding Wofford to an 83-72 win over VMI (16-13, 9-8 SoCon) inside Cameron Hall after pulling away in the latter portion of the second half with leads as large as 17 points. Senior Ryan Larson added 15 points to cap three Terriers in double figures, as the Terriers move to 17-12 overall and 9-8 in the Southern Conference. Upon Wednesday's win, the Terriers sit in a three-way tie for fourth in the SoCon with VMI and UNCG. Wofford shot 67.9 percent from the field on 19-of-28 shooting over the final 20 minutes to finish the game 56.1 percent (32-of-57) and 36 percent from 3-point range on 9-of-25 shots. The performance hands VMI just its fourth loss inside Cameron Hall this season (9-4). Additionally, the Terriers hit 83.3 percent of their shots from the charity stripe (10-of-12), while winning the rebound battle, 36-26, and amassing a 42-26 differential on points inside the paint. Sophomore guard Max Klesmit notched his sixth 20-point game of the season and his career with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. The Terriers move to 11-2 on the season when Klesmit knocks down three or more threes this season. Junior forward B.J. Mack followed with 21 points, his seventh career 20-point game, on 9-of-13 from the field and three 3-pointer (3-of-5). That performance marked Mack's 18th-straight game in double figures, while also grabbing a game-high seven rebounds and recording three assists and two blocks. Ryan Larson recorded 15 points for his second-highest output this season, including two 3-pointers and three free throws, while dishing a game-high four assists and pulling down three rebounds. The St. Paul, Minn. native additionally was pivotal defensively with three drawn charges throughout the contest. Entering the contest, Wofford ranked 15th in the nation with 272 threes made, having increased that mark to 281 after Wednesday, as the trio of Klesmit, Mack and Larson connected on all of Wofford's trifectas for the contest. The occurrence marks Wofford's 18th game this season the Terriers have had three or more players hit at least two three pointers apiece.
UP NEXT GRAPHIC:
Regular Season 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙚 - 2/26/22
— Mercer Men's Basketball (@MercerMBB) February 24, 2022
🏀: @WoffordMBB | 7 P.M.
📍: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium
🖥: Stream on @ESPNPlus
📊: SideArm Stats
📻: Mercer Sports Radio / https://t.co/5CEtLcWVS7#LetsRoar x #BearNation pic.twitter.com/gzAj1m1N61
THE SOCON RACE:
The Bears are currently in seventh place in the conference with an 8-9 record in conference play.
Team SoCon Overall
Chattanooga 13-4 23-7
Furman 11-6 19-11
Samford 10-7 20-9
UNCG 9-8 17-12
Wofford 9-8 17-12
VMI 9-8 16-13
Mercer 8-9 15-15
ETSU 6-11 14-16
The Citadel 6-11 12-16
Western Carolina 4-13 10-20
SHARING IS CARING:
Mercer is fourth as a team in the Southern Conference in assists while averaging 14.6 assists per game. Felipe Haase leads Mercer with an 1.8 assist to turnover ratio.
1. Alex Hunter-FUR. 3.3
2. Ryan Larson-WOF 2.1
3. David Sloan-ETSU 2.1
4. Trey Bonham-VMI 2.0
5. Tyler Moffe-CIT 1.9
6. Felipe Haase-MER 1.8
FREEBIES AT THE CHARITY STRIPE:
Mercer is ranked second in the league in Free Throw Percentage. Haase is ranked first in the Southern Conference making 86.9% percent of his free throws attempted. Haase has attempted 99 FTs so far on the season.
Rank. Name (School). FTM FTA Avg.
1. Felipe Haase - MER 91 104 .875
2. Max Klesmit-WOF 74 88 .841
3. Mike Bothwell – FUR 94 112 .839
SHARPSHOOTING:
The sharpshooting Felipe Haase and Jalen Johnson are both within the top 10 in the league for three-point field goal proficiency. Furman and Mercer are the only two teams that have two people representing themselves within the top 10, proving just how effective they are from behind the arc.
Rank. Name (School). 3PTA 3PTM Avg
1. Jake Stephens-VMI 66 135 .489
2. Conley Garrison-FUR 66 152 .434
3. De'Monte Buckingham-UNCG 60 139 .432
4. Jordan King-ETSU 91 214 .425
5. Alex Hunter-FUR 98 237 .414
6. Ryan Larson-WOF 60 147 .408
7. Malachi Smith-UTC 52 128 .406
8. Jason Roche-CIT 104 257 .405
9. Felipe Haase-MER 67 166 .404
10. Jalen Johnson-MER 72 181 .398
OVERALL SCORING:
Felipe Haase ranks ninth in the conference in overall scoring while averaging 14.9 points per game. Haase leads the Bears in overall scoring and ppg as well.
Rank. Name (School). Points Avg
| 1. | Malachi Smith-UTC | 616 | 20.5 | |||||
| 2. | Ques Glover-SAM | 504 | 19.4 | |||||
| 3. | Jake Stephens-VMI | 541 | 19.3 | |||||
| 4. | Hayden Brown-CIT | 502 | 18.6 | |||||
| 5. | B.J. Mack-WOF | 466 | 16.1 | |||||
| 6. | Kamdyn Curfman-VMI | 461 | 15.9 | |||||
| 7. | Mike Bothwell-FUR | 461 | 15.4 | |||||
| 8. | Jalen Slawson-FUR | 448 | 14.9 | |||||
| 9. | Felipe Haase-MER | 446 | 14.9 |
SOCON TOURNAMENT:
The Southern Conference tournament is the longest running conference tournament in the entire country. The 2022 tournament marks the 102nd edition. Only two conferences - the Atlantic Coast Conference (67 in 2021) and the Southeastern Conference (61 in 2021) have held at least 60 tournaments. The Ohio Valley Conference sits fourth with 56 completed tournaments. The MEAC rounds out the top-five with 48 tournaments with the 49th edition to be held this season.
Game One of the SoCon tournament begins for the men at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 4 between the Eight seed and the Nine seed. Followed by Seven seed vs the Ten seed at 7:30.
Tournament Tickets: Click 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.
