Men's Basketball Dominates for First Conference Win of the Season

Saturday, January 6

Lexington, Va.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

8-7,1-1SoCon

VMI

3-12,0-2SoCon

Mercer

VMI

Men's Basketball Dominates for First Conference Win of the Season

1/6/2024 4:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Makenzie Jones, jones_m@mercer.edu

LEXINGTON, Va. – Mercer (8-7) and VMI (3-12) played a close game for the first eight minutes when the Bears started stacking points to build a double-digit lead that was sustained through the final buzzer.

The Bears outdid the Keydets in bench points 37-14, and scoring was distributed well across the entire roster, especially in the second half, where all but one Bear scored between two and six points.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 86, VMI 64
RECORDS: Mercer (8-7, 1-1 SoCon); VMI (3-12, 0-2 SoCon)
LOCATION: Lexington, Va. (Cameron Hall)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

No team took a lead greater than two until Mercer went up by four, 15-11, with 12:10 left in the first half. Mercer went into the under-12 media timeout shooting 57 percent from the field. The team reached a 10 point lead after back-to-back 3s by David Thomas and Jake Davis with 5:53 on the clock and played off that momentum, ending the half on a 20-4 run to go into the locker room with a 48-28 lead. Robby Carmody put up 17 points in the half, and David Thomas scored 14.

2ND HALF

The Bears slowly built their lead throughout the second half, reaching a game-high of 31 with 6:15 left on the clock. Robby Carmody scored a career high despite only playing three minutes in the half due to missing a chunk of time treating an injury. All Mercer starters were on the bench to finish the game by the under-four media timeout.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Graduate student Robby Carmody and freshman David Thomas both scored career highs of 20 points. This is the first time Mercer has had two players score 20 points or more in a game since 1/13/22 in Macon also against VMI. Jalen Johnson (30), Felipe Haase (28), and James Glisson III (21) led Mercer to a 97-91 victory.
+ Jah Quinones, Anthony Benard, and Robby Carmody all recorded three steals.
+ Freshmen Jake Davis and David Thomas both drained four 3-pointers in the game.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer made 12 3-pointers, the most of any game this season.
+ The team grabbed 45 rebounds, also the most of the season.
+ 24 assists is four more than than the high the team recorded earlier this season. Caleb Hunter accounted for six of these, a personal season high.
+ Even without Jalyn McCreary coming off the bench, the Bears still had 37 bench points for the game, above the 31.5 bench points per game average that is currently 19th in the NCAA.

UP NEXT

The Bears will play the final of three straight road games at Wofford on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.

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BACK THE BEARS

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