Hoffman Claims 500th Win in Home Opener

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – Head coach Bob Hoffman registered the 500th win of his head coaching career on Wednesday evening, leading the Mercer men’s basketball team to a 95-53 victory over Reinhardt at Hawkins Arena.

The win was also Hoffman’s 100th at Mercer and pulled the team to 1-1 on the season. Reinhardt dropped its second straight and fell to 3-4 overall.

Eleven of Mercer’s 14 suited players reached the scoring column as the Bears topped the 90-point barrier for the first time since January 30, 2010. Senior Daniel Coursey paced the Bears’ offense with 20 points in 15 minutes while also collecting eight rebounds, five blocks and a steal.

Senior Bud Thomas was eight-of-nine from the field on his way to 18 points in 16 minutes of work. Sophomore Ike Nwamu also reached double figures, tallying 13 points, six boards and an assist off the bench.

Mercer got layups on three of its first four possessions, but back-to-back threes for the Eagles knotted the score at 6-6 three minutes in. At the 14:27 juncture the Eagles trailed by only four when a Coursey dunk ignited a 23-2 Mercer run that put the Bears ahead 36-11 with eight minutes to play before half.

The Bears were never threatened from that point on, eventually going ahead by as many as 46 in the second half.

Mercer attacked the glass all night, registering 64 points in the paint and 21 second-chance points. The Bears also held substantial edges in points off turnovers (20-2) and bench scoring (48-27).

The Bears also recorded an eye-popping 60 rebounds, the highest single-game total in the Hoffman era. All 14 players grabbed at least two rebounds.

Hoffman has posted 88 wins with the women at Southern Nazarene, 243 wins with the men at Oklahoma Baptist, 69 wins with the men at Texas Pan-American and now 100 with Mercer.

He’ll go for number 501 as the Bears welcome Seton Hall to Macon on Saturday. Tipoff at Hawkins Arena is scheduled for 3 p.m.