Mercer Posts Big Offensive Night In Rout Of Queens

Tuesday, December 19

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

5-6,0-0SoCon

Queens (N.C.)

6-7,0-0ASUN

Queens (NC)

Mercer

Mercer Posts Big Offensive Night In Rout Of Queens

12/19/2023 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: Makenzie Jones, jones_m@mercer.edu

MACON – Home-standing Mercer connected on nearly 54 percent of its field goal attempts, including a blistering night from the perimeter, and used a big first-half run to key an 84-65 win over visiting Queens on Tuesday evening in Hawkins Arena.

The result marked the third-straight victory for the Bears (5-6) who registered season highs for both points and shooting percentage in the outing fueled, in part, by an 8-for-16 clip from downtown. It was the third loss in the last four contests for the Royals (6-7) who were left still looking for their first road win of the campaign.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 84, Queens 65
RECORDS: Mercer (5-6, 0-0 SoCon); Queens (6-7, 0-0 ASUN)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

Queens pulled down an offensive board and used a 3-pointer from Chris Ashby to take a 13-6 advantage just 4-1/2 minutes into the evening, but went just 1-for-15 from the floor for the remainder of the half. The Bears used the stone cold effort from the floor to eventually put together a 34-6 run that spanned more than 11 minutes and gave MU a double-digit lead for good. Jalyn McCreary hit a short jumper at the 2:06 mark to put an exclamation point on the scoring outburst and give the hosts a 42-21 lead, but Queens tacked up five-straight points to whittle its deficit down to 42-26 heading into the locker rooms.

2ND HALF

From an offensive standpoint, the second half was a near-mirror image for the Bears who shot 59.4 percent from the floor in the stanza and scored on nearly 60 percent of their possessions. The Royals strung together three-straight buckets to pull to within 14 points, 54-40, following Deyton Albury's jumper at the 12:29 mark, but that would be as close as the visitors would get. Jah Quinones connected on a 3-pointer with 7-1/2 minutes left to pad Mercer's lead back out to 20 points, 67-47, and the Orange & Black put the game on cruise control after that.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Jalyn McCreary poured in a career-best 30 points on 13-of-20 shooting, while also notching his third career double-double with a dozen boards as well. McCreary also turned in three blocks and as many steals.
+ Senior Jalen Cobb notched his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. He also added five assists and a pair of steals.
+ Freshman Jake Davis tallied 12 points in a team-high 34 minutes on the floor, while Amanze Ngumezi chipped in 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting with five rebounds.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer has now put together three-straight wins for the first time since Jan. 13-17, 2022, when it posted consecutive victories over VMI, UNC Greensboro and The Citadel.
+ The Bears have now out-rebounded four-straight opponents with Tuesday's 38-31 victory on the glass. Mercer notched a season-high 29 defensive rebounds in Tuesday's win as well.
+ MU's offensive output on Tuesday was its most points in a game since reaching the century mark in a 100-62 home win over Middle Georgia State on Dec. 17, 2022.

UP NEXT

The Bears will continue their season-longest six-game home stand on Thursday afternoon when they suit up to take on Thomas (4-7) in Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased ahead of time by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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BACK THE BEARS

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