Mercer Earns Senior Day Victory Over The Citadel

Saturday, February 25

Macon, Ga.

2 PM

Mercer University

13-18,6-12SoCon

The Citadel

10-21,5-13SoCon

The Citadel

Mercer

Luis Hurtado Jr. shooting a three-pointer with a defender guarding him

Mercer Earns Senior Day Victory Over The Citadel

2/25/2023 6:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Ends five-game skid heading into the Southern Conference Tournament

By: Amanda Cover

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's basketball program closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a Senior Day victory over The Citadel, 72-50. Seniors Kamar Robertson, Harrison Drake, Luis Hurtado Jr., Diego Rivera, and John Treanor were honored before the game.

"You always want your last game at home to be a winner, so it's positive," head coach Greg Gary said. "We've been in a lot of tight ones recently and not in the best streak, so it's nice to stop that. Hopefully we can build on this and feel good about ourselves."

The Bears improve to 13-18 overall and 6-12 in the Southern Conference while The Citadel falls to 10-21 on the season and 5-13 in the league. The two teams will meet again in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Friday, March 3 at 5 p.m. at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer scored first from a triple by Shawn Walker Jr., and then The Citadel took its only lead of the game with two jumpers before the Bears put up seven more points. Mercer held control of the game, maintaining a lead of at least six for the last eight minutes of the first half to go into halftime, 34-25.

The Bears held The Citadel scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half while posting a 14-0 run to take a 23-point lead. Jalyn McCreary forced the Bulldogs to take a timeout with a steal and layup with 14:28 on the clock. The Citadel scored the next nine points, but the Bears maintained a double figure lead the entire second half.

Just under the 10-minute mark, Mercer poured on a 14-1 run spearheaded by four treys by four different players. The Bulldogs only scored two field goals in the final five minutes, settling the win at 72-50 for Mercer.

BY THE NUMBERS
Mercer shot over 50% from the field for the second time in three games, finishing at 52% (27-of-52) compared to The Citadel's 35% (20-of-57). The Bulldogs only made one triple (1-of-15, 7%) while the Bears went 10-of-23 (57%) from distance. 10 treys are the most for Mercer since February 4 against VMI (13).

The Citadel scored 38 of its 50 points in the paint. Most of the Bulldogs' offense centered around this, and the many missed triples resulted from last-second attempts to beat the shot clock. 50 points is the fewest scored by an opponent this season.

"I thought we did a good job of helping each other team defensively and being physical and very gritty," Gary added.

The Bears won the rebound battle, led by Luis Hurtado Jr. with eight boards. Mercer also logged 12 assists to The Citadel's three.

11 different players scored for the Bears paced by McCreary and Hurtado Jr. each with 12 points.

UP NEXT: Mercer will face The Citadel in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Friday, March 3 at 5 p.m. at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.

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.