Bears on the Road at The Citadel

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball team travels to face The Citadel on Saturday, January 28 at 1 p.m. at McAlister Field House. Both teams have won three of the last four games heading into the first meeting of the year between the programs.

GAMEDAY INFO
Mercer (10-12, 3-6) vs. The Citadel (9-12, 4-5)
Saturday, January 28 | 1:00 p.m.
Charleston, S.C. | McAlister Field House
LIVE STATS
TV: ESPN+ | RADIO: SportsMic Radio Network

The Citadel is the final SoCon team Mercer has yet to play this season. The Bears lead the all-time series with the Bulldogs, 21-8, and it is 13-5 in favor of Mercer since 2015 when the teams met for the first time since 1970. Mercer is 10-3 at The Citadel, including wins in the past three meetings in Charleston.

SCOUTING THE CITADEL
The Citadel completed its season sweep of Western Carolina on Wednesday with a 81-70 win on the road. The Bulldogs are 4-5 in conference play so far with the other two wins against VMI and Chattanooga. The Bulldogs are returning to Charleston for four-straight games, beginning against Mercer, after a three-game road stretch.

After many double-digit defeats and narrow victories, The Citadel has the lowest scoring margin in the conference at -4.8. The Bulldogs excel from the charity stripe, posting 77.2% this season, the best in the SoCon.

Stephen Clark and Austin Ash lead the way for the Bulldogs, averaging 17 and 15 points per game, respectively. Clark's scoring average ranks third in the SoCon only behind Jake Stephens (Chattanooga) and Mike Bothwell (Furman). Ash leads the conference in free throw percentage at 93.3% via a 42-of-45 record.

RECENT ACTION
Mercer swept the regular season meetings against ETSU for the first time in program history with an overtime victory, 71-67, on Wednesday night in Hawkins Arena. The Bears did not score in the final 6:08 of the second half as ETSU tied the game to send it to overtime.

It was the first time this season the Bears won after trailing at halftime as the 11 previous games down at the break landed in favor of the opponent. 71 points for Mercer was the most since the 82-79 win at Troy on December 21.

Jalyn McCreary scored a career-high 26 points against the Bucs, 20 of which were scored after halftime. In his 100^th career appearance for the Bears, James Glisson III scored 13 points while going 6-for-6 from the free throw line to help secure the win. Shawn Walker Jr. also scored 13 points, spearheaded by four buckets from beyond the arc. Mercer scored 42 points in the paint which was the most against a Division I opponent for the Bears this season.

Freshman TJ Grant played a career-high 32 minutes against ETSU, providing two crucial blocks, one steal, and five rebounds in a stellar defensive effort. Mercer narrowly outrebounded the Bucs, 41-40, behind a strong second half performance.

FOLLOW THE BEARS:
For complete coverage of Mercer Men's 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

James Glisson III

TJ Grant

Jalyn McCreary

Shawn Walker Jr.

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