Mercer Men’s Basketball Breezes Past Stetson, 87-49

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer men’s basketball team flexed its muscles early, hitting 17 of its first 21 shots en route to a thorough 87-49 dispatching of Stetson on Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena. Mercer’s red-hot start saw the Bears go ahead by 20 less than seven minutes into the game on the way to their seventh-straight win.

Mercer (17-5, 8-1 A-Sun) maintained its position at the top of the Atlantic Sun standings with the win, while Steston saw its three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 6-15 (4-5 A-Sun). The Bears also remained unbeaten in 12 home games and ran its record to 42-4 in their last 46 games at Hawkins Arena.

Senior guard Anthony White Jr. tied a career-high scoring effort with 19 points and played a key role in Mercer’s lightning fast start. White Jr. drilled three treys in the first six minutes of play before closing his night with 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range to go along with four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Joining White Jr. in double figures were junior Darious Moten (15 points), senior Bud Thomas (13 points) and sophomore Jibri Bryan (12 points). As a team, Mercer shot better than 50% from the floor for the ninth time this season, converting 31-of-54 (57.4%) field goal attempts on Saturday.

While Mercer’s offense attack was nearly flawless in the opening minutes, the defensive effort was almost as impressive. The Bears held the Hatters to 1-of-13 shooting from the floor at the start to quickly erase any thoughts of an upset.

After Mercer went up 26-4 by the 12:17 mark of the first half, Stetson trimmed its deficit to 19 before the Bears used an 11-2 run to go ahead by 31 (42-11) with 6:38 to play before halftime. The hosts eventually took a 49-24 lead into halftime and were never threatened in the second half, going ahead by as many as 45 before the final horn.

Mercer’s win established the third season in a row that head coach Bob Hoffman and company have had a winning streak of at least seven games in conference play. The Bears have had a lead of 15 or greater in seven of nine conference games this season and led by 20 or more in five-straight outings.

Moten and Bryan provided the brunt of Mercer’s bench scoring that outplayed Stetson’s reserves 40-22. The Bears also outscored the Hatters in the paint (30-16) and on second-chance opportunities (11-2).

Mercer opens the second half of its A-Sun schedule on the road, traveling to East Tennessee State for a 7 p.m. game on Jan. 30.