Mercer Drops Game At Home To UNCG, 78-61

Saturday, February 22

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

12-17,5-11SoCon

UNC Greensboro

19-10,12-4SoCon

UNC Greensboro

Mercer

2/22/2025 8:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Johnson led Mercer with 22 points

MACON, Ga. – Tyler Johnson scored a game-high 22 points, but a strong second half from UNCG propelled the Spartans past Mercer, 78-61 on Saturday afternoon from Hawkins Arena.

After holding UNCG to just 26 points on 25.7 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, the Bears were unable to maintain that same effectiveness defensively in the second half ,as the Spartans doubled their point total from the first half by scoring 52 points in the second half to pull away for the win.

Mercer shot 20-for-60 (33.3%) from the field while the Spartans shot 28-for-67 (41.8%). Neither team had an edge on the glass as rebounds were even at 42.

Johnson led all scorers with 22 points to go with six rebounds. Ahmad Robinson was the only other Mercer player in double figures with 10 points, however nine Mercer players scored on the afternoon.

THE BASICS
SCORE: UNCG 78, Mercer 61
RECORDS: Mercer 12-17, 5-11 (SoCon); UNCG 19-10, 12-4 (SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED
1ST HALF
A layup from Marcus Overstreet gave the Bears an early 9-4 lead. After UNCG tied the game at nine, Mercer responded by going on an 11-0 run that was capped by a three-pointer by Laurynas Vaistaras.

UNCG was able to cut its deficit to one at 27-26, but Angel Montas Jr.'s layup gave the Bears a 29-26 lead heading into halftime.

2ND HALF
UNCG's offense came out of halftime making shots at a high clip and the Spartans went on a 17-3 run to open the second half to take a 43-32. A three-pointer from Montas Jr. made had the Bears down 12 at 52-40. An 11-0 run by UNCG gave the Spartans a 71-49 lead with six minutes to play. From there, Mercer was unable to go on a scoring run as the Spartans came away with the win.

NOTABLES
+ Mercer had 14 offensive rebounds, its most in its last five games.
+ Bench points were 20-12 in favor of the Bears.
+ Johnson's 22 points was the seventh game this season in which he scored 20+ points.
+ The Bears committed just eight turnovers, their fewest in their last eight games.

UP NEXT
Mercer heads on the road for its last away game of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at ETSU. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. from Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee.

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