Saturday, January 4
Lexington, Va.
4:30 p.m.
Mercer University
9-6,2-0SoCon
70
at
67
VMI
6-9,0-2SoCon
1
2
F
Mercer
34
36
70
VMI
26
41
67
Nze's Career High 25 Points Lifts Mercer Past VMI, 70-67
1/4/2025 7:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jah Nze scored a career high 25 points for the Bears
LEXINGTON, Va. – Jah Nze scored a career high 25 points to lead the Mercer Bears to a 70-67 win on the road over VMI Saturday evening from Cameron Hall in Lexington, Virginia.\
With the win, the Bears improve to 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2014-15 season. It was also the 200th career win for head coach Ryan Ridder.
Mercer led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but VMI used a 28-7 run to take its first lead of the game since the opening minutes of the first half. Mercer got a key defensive stop in the closing seconds to hold on for the win.
Mercer shot 25-for-56 (44.6%) from the field while VMI went 22-for-55 (40%) from the floor. Each team made nine three-pointers while shooting below 40 percent from deep.
Nze's 25 points came on an efficient day shooting as he went 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the field including 5-of-8 (62.5%) from three-point range. Alex Holt and Ahmad Robinson were the other Bears to score in double figures as each had 11 points on the day. Holt came up one rebound shy of posting his second consecutive double-double.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Mercer 70, VMI 67
RECORDS: Mercer 9-6, 2-0 (SoCon); VMI 6-9, 0-2 (Sun Belt)
LOCATION: Lexington, Va. (Cameron Hall)
HOW IT HAPPENED
1ST HALF
Neither team could get out to a big lead in the opening minutes of the game as a layup from Tyler Johnson tied the game at seven. VMI would take a 19-15 lead halfway through the first half. Mercer responded by going on 12-2 run to take a 27-21 lead. Nze connected on two three-pointers during the scoring run for the Bears.
The Bears held VMI to just one made field goal over the final five minutes of the half and Nze drained a jumper on the wing in the final minute to give Mercer a 34-26 lead heading into halftime.
2ND HALF
Robinson and Johnson made two-three-pointers and Holt made back-to-back layups in the opening minutes of the second half to give Mercer its largest lead of the game at 46-29. VMI responded over the next eight minutes of game action by going on a 28-7 run to take a 57-53 lead. It was the Keydets' first lead since early in the first half.
Nze drove baseline and laid one in to make it a 63-61 lead for VMI with just under four minutes to play. The Bears strung together a couple of defensive stops followed by a jumper from Holt and a three-pointer from Nze and suddenly Mercer led 66-63 with 2:37 to play. Mercer led 68-67 with 15 seconds left. The Bears were in-bounding the ball, but turned it over. VMI's Augustinas Kiudulas drove to the basket but lost his balance and Laurynas Vaistaras grabbed the steal and got the ball to Johnson who made both free throws. VMI missed a half court heave to tie the game at the buzzer.
NOTABLES
+ Head coach Ryan Ridder picked up his 200th career win. Ridder earned his 100th career win as a Division I head coach earlier this season following Mercer's win over West Georgia on Dec. 4.
+ Jah Nze scored a career high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting. His previous high this season was 14 points against Trinity Baptist.
+ Bench points were 33-20 in favor of the Bears.
+ The Bears have now started 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
+ Mercer has now won six straight games against VMI.
+ After trailing 63-59, the Bears closed the game on an 11-4 run.
UP NEXT
Mercer returns home to play ETSU on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tip off is at 7 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Mercer Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook.
With the win, the Bears improve to 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2014-15 season. It was also the 200th career win for head coach Ryan Ridder.
Mercer led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but VMI used a 28-7 run to take its first lead of the game since the opening minutes of the first half. Mercer got a key defensive stop in the closing seconds to hold on for the win.
Mercer shot 25-for-56 (44.6%) from the field while VMI went 22-for-55 (40%) from the floor. Each team made nine three-pointers while shooting below 40 percent from deep.
Nze's 25 points came on an efficient day shooting as he went 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the field including 5-of-8 (62.5%) from three-point range. Alex Holt and Ahmad Robinson were the other Bears to score in double figures as each had 11 points on the day. Holt came up one rebound shy of posting his second consecutive double-double.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Mercer 70, VMI 67
RECORDS: Mercer 9-6, 2-0 (SoCon); VMI 6-9, 0-2 (Sun Belt)
LOCATION: Lexington, Va. (Cameron Hall)
HOW IT HAPPENED
1ST HALF
Neither team could get out to a big lead in the opening minutes of the game as a layup from Tyler Johnson tied the game at seven. VMI would take a 19-15 lead halfway through the first half. Mercer responded by going on 12-2 run to take a 27-21 lead. Nze connected on two three-pointers during the scoring run for the Bears.
The Bears held VMI to just one made field goal over the final five minutes of the half and Nze drained a jumper on the wing in the final minute to give Mercer a 34-26 lead heading into halftime.
2ND HALF
Robinson and Johnson made two-three-pointers and Holt made back-to-back layups in the opening minutes of the second half to give Mercer its largest lead of the game at 46-29. VMI responded over the next eight minutes of game action by going on a 28-7 run to take a 57-53 lead. It was the Keydets' first lead since early in the first half.
Nze drove baseline and laid one in to make it a 63-61 lead for VMI with just under four minutes to play. The Bears strung together a couple of defensive stops followed by a jumper from Holt and a three-pointer from Nze and suddenly Mercer led 66-63 with 2:37 to play. Mercer led 68-67 with 15 seconds left. The Bears were in-bounding the ball, but turned it over. VMI's Augustinas Kiudulas drove to the basket but lost his balance and Laurynas Vaistaras grabbed the steal and got the ball to Johnson who made both free throws. VMI missed a half court heave to tie the game at the buzzer.
NOTABLES
+ Head coach Ryan Ridder picked up his 200th career win. Ridder earned his 100th career win as a Division I head coach earlier this season following Mercer's win over West Georgia on Dec. 4.
+ Jah Nze scored a career high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting. His previous high this season was 14 points against Trinity Baptist.
+ Bench points were 33-20 in favor of the Bears.
+ The Bears have now started 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
+ Mercer has now won six straight games against VMI.
+ After trailing 63-59, the Bears closed the game on an 11-4 run.
UP NEXT
Mercer returns home to play ETSU on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tip off is at 7 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Mercer Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook.
Team Stats
Mercer
VMI
FG%
.446
.400
3FG%
.375
.333
FT%
.579
.700
RB
36
31
TO
16
17
STL
10
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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