Men's Basketball Battles Through Final Seconds in Loss at Wofford

Wednesday, January 10

Spartanburg, SC

7 p.m.

Mercer University

8-8,1-2SoCon

Wofford

9-7,2-1SoCon

Mercer

Wofford

Men's Basketball Battles Through Final Seconds in Loss at Wofford

1/10/2024 10:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Makenzie Jones, jones_m@mercer.edu

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer (8-8) bounced back from a 10-point deficit to take the lead late in the second half, but Wofford (9-7) drew a foul and sank both ends of a one-and-one in the final seconds to secure the win 74-73.

The Bears scored a whopping 54 points off the bench, and nine out of 10 players who recorded minutes also recorded points. Mercer falls to 2-5 on the road (1-2 SoCon road) and returns to Macon for the next two games.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Wofford 74, Mercer 73
RECORDS: Wofford (9-7, 2-1 SoCon); Mercer (8-8, 1-2 SoCon)
LOCATION: Spartanburg, S.C. (Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

Alex Holt's dunk at the 14:05 mark gave him nine points in the first six minutes of the game to account for over half of the Bears points. Mercer reached a 21-12 lead midway into the half, but Wofford quickly responded to cut the lead to two in a three-minute span and tied it up with six minutes left. Holt tied his season high of 12 points with four minutes still to play in the half. The Bears came within three points at the half with a buzzer-beater from Anthony Benard who also tied his season high (seven points) in the first half.

2ND HALF

The Bears briefly took the lead with Jake Davis's first 3-pointer of the game, but Wofford took an 8-0 run into the first media timeout. The team battled back within three, but Wofford reached a game-high 10 point lead with eight minutes left on the clock. Mercer gained a burst of energy from a layup by David Thomas followed by a steal and score off the inbound by Caleb Hunter. Jalen Cobb tipped in a missed David Thomas jumper to take the lead with two minutes to go. Wofford's Corey Tripp made both free throws of a one-and-one to gain a one-point advantage with only 7.8 seconds left, and Mercer could not convert on the other end as time expired.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Alex Holt scored a season-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 4-of-5 free throws.
+ Freshman David Thomas was only one point shy of his career high with 19 points. He has also recorded three assists in each of the last five games.
+ Junior Caleb Hunter scored a season-high 10 points.

NOTABLES

+ 73 points is the most Mercer has scored in a loss this season.
+ Mercer more than tripled Wofford's bench points, scoring 54 to their 16 and more than doubled Wofford in points off of turnovers (20-9).
+ Jalyn McCreary returned to action after missing recent games due to illness and scored nine points in 10 minutes.
+ The Bears shot over 50 percent from the field for the third time this season.

UP NEXT

The Bears return to Macon to host Western Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.

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BACK THE BEARS

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