Mercer Cruises Past VMI, 89-61, Into Sunday’s Semifinal
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Behind a 26-6 run in the game’s first 10 minutes, Mercer defeated VMI, 89-61, in the final quarterfinal game of the 2015 Men’s Southern Conference Championship, presented by General Shale. The win moves the Bears to 18-14 on the season and advances them to a semifinal matchup with Furman. The loss ends VMI’s season at 11-19.
T.J. Hallice led Mercer with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds, while Ike Nwamu added 19 points and four rebounds. Jibri Bryan added 14 points, while Stephon Jelks added 12 and tied a team-high with nine rebounds. The Bears shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the game, including 58.1 percent in the second half.
VMI was led by sophomore Julian Eleby with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and a team-high-tying three assists, while Tim Marshall and Brian Brown each also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Keydets shot 51.7 percent in the second half and recorded six blocks in the contest.
VMI grabbed the early 5-0 lead, before the Bears used an 11-0 run over 3:35 to take the 11-5 lead. Mercer also ramped up the defensive pressure, holding VMI without a basket for over five minutes, before a layup by Julian Eleby ended the Keydet drought and cut the lead to four. Back-to-back threes on the other end opened up a ten-point Mercer lead heading into the under-12:00 media time out.
After the timeout, Mercer used another run, this one of 6-0, to push its lead to 23-9 and force VMI to call its first timeout of the half. The Bears continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal, pushing the lead to 26-9, before a layup by Eleby ended VMI’s nearly four-minute scoring drought and cut the lead to 26-11 heading into the under-8:00 timeout.
VMI went another three minutes without a field goal, before a three by Eleby cut the Mercer lead in half at 30-15, before the teams traded baskets heading into the under four-minute timeout. The Keydets couldn’t cut into the lead anymore before the half, however, and Mercer scored the final nine points of the half to take a 42-20 lead into the locker room.
Mercer kept up the pressure out of halftime, eight of the game’s next nine points to take a 50-21 lead, before a 7-0 run by VMI cut the lead to 50-28 heading into the under-16:00 media timeout. Out of the timeout, the teams traded baskets before Mercer used another 10-5 run over the next 4:30 to push the lead to 62-35. The teams continued to trade baskets until an alley-oop dunk followed by two free throws pushed Mercer’s lead back to its widest margin at 29.
A layup by VMI cut the lead to 27, but a three by Nwamu then opened up the 75-45 advantage for Mercer with 5:54 remaining. The teams then traded baskets for the remainder of the game, with the Bears claiming the 89-61 quarterfinal win.
Furman Upsets Chattanooga to Advance to Semifinals
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Tenth-seeded Furman outscored No. 2 seed Chattanooga 43-36 in the second half and made 12 free throws down the stretch to claim the 69-67 upset win in the third game of Saturday’s quarterfinals in the 2015 Men’s Southern Conference Basketball Tournament, presented by General Shale. The win moves Furman to 10-21 on the year and advances the Paladins into Sunday’s semifinals, while the loss ends Chattanooga’s season at 22-10.
Southern Conference Freshman of the Year Devin Sibley paced the Furman offense with 16 points, including finishing 7-of-8 from the free throw line, while adding six rebounds. Stephen Croone went 8-of-9 from the charity stripe and totaled 13 points, while Kris Acox, Kendrec Ferrara and John Davis III each added nine points. Furman finished the game shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 84.4 percent from the free throw line, sinking 27-of-32 free throws in the second half.
Chattanooga was led by Ronrico White with 16 points, including nine in the game’s final minute, while Casey Jones added 12. Chuck Ester added a team-high seven rebounds, while White added a team-high five assists.
Chattanooga opened the scoring on a layup by Duke Ethridge before Ferrara hit his third three-pointer of the tournament to give Furman the early one-point advantage. The teams traded turnovers over the next two minutes before Ethridge broke the scoring drought with a layup at the 16:55 mark. Back-to-back blocked shots and turnovers on both of the floor then sent the game into its first media timeout with Chattanooga hanging on to the one-point lead.
Chattanooga stretched its lead to 5-3 with two free throws out of the timeout, but a three by Davis grabbed the lead back for the Paladins at 6-5. Four quick points from Chattanooga pushed the Mocs’ lead to 9-6, but Croone knocked down Furman’s third three of the game to tie the score at nine. Back-to-back Chattanooga baskets once again pushed the lead back to four, but Sibley split through the Mocs’ defense for a layup to cut it to two heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
The teams traded turnovers out of the timeout, before a layup by Justin Tuoyo gave Chattanooga its largest lead of the day at six, prompting a Furman timeout. Out of the under-8:00 media timeout, Davis knocked down Furman’s fourth three of the day to cut the Chattanooga lead in half at 17-14, but Eric Robertson nailed a three of his own to push the lead back to six. Chattanooga then opened its biggest lead of the day at eight with 5:30 remaining on a dunk by Tre’ McLean, before a fast-break layup by Jones stretched the lead to double-digits with 4:30 remaining. Kris Acox then ended a three-minute scoring drought for the Paladins, sending the teams to the final media timeout of the half with Chattanooga leading 24-16.
After a jumper by Davis cut the lead to six, Fowler intercepted an alley-oop try, which led to a layup by Sibley to cut the lead to four with 3:00 remaining. A defensive rebound on the other end followed by a Croone layup capped an 8-0 Furman run, forcing Chattanooga to call a timeout leading 24-22. The teams then traded baskets before a three by White gave the Mocs the 29-24 lead, before the teams traded baskets and Chattanooga took a 31-26 lead into the locker rooms.
Furman opened the half on a quick 5-0 run to tie the game at 31 with 18:21 remaining, before a three-point-play by Acox pushed Furman’s lead to 8-0 and gave the Paladins the 34-31 lead. Furman continued to add to its lead, using a layup by Ferrara to take a 36-31 lead heading into the first media timeout of the half.
Two free throws by Ronrico White out of the timeotu ended the nearly four-minute Chattanooga scoring drought and cut the Furman lead to three at 36-33. Furman pushed the lead back to five before a 6-0 run by Chattanooga gave the Mocs the lead at 39-38 heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
Chattanooga extended its run to 8-0 out of the timeout to push the lead back to three at 41-38, before a free throw and a layup gave the Mocs their largest lead of the half at 44-38. Devin Sibley ended Furman’s nearly six-minute scoring drought with two free throws to cut it to 44-40. The teams then traded baskets until a three by Ferrara cut the Chattanooga lead to one at 46-45, but a three-pointer on the other end by Greg Pryor stretched the Mocs’ lead back to four at 49-45 with 6:46 remaining.
Out of the under-8:00 timeout, a layup by Daniel Fowler cut Chattanooga’s lead to 49-47, before two free throws by Devin Sibley tied the game at 49 with 5:30 remaining. Another layup from Fowler pushed Furman’s run to 6-0 to give the Paladins the 51-49 lead with under five minutes remaining. Fowler continued to stay hot for the Paladins, using two free throws to push Furman’s lead back to four at 53-49 heading into the under-4:00 timeout.
A layup by Justin Tuoyo ended Chattanooga’s three-minute scoring drought and cut Furman’s lead to two with 3:08 remaining, before a free throw by Davis pushed the lead back to three. Sibley knocked down two free throws with less than two and a half minutes to go to give Furman a five-point lead at 56-51. Two free throws by Casey Jones on the other end cut the lead back to three, before a free throw by Sibley give Furman the two-possession lead. The teams traded baskets until a free throw by Chuck Ester cut Furman’s lead to two at 58-56 with under a minute to go.
Furman pushed the lead back to six on free throws by Croone, before two Chattanooga free throws cut the lead to four at 62-58 with 32 seconds to go. Croone pushed the lead back to six with another two free throws, before White cut the lead to three with 21 seconds to go. Beans drained two free throws to push the lead back to five with 13.9 seconds on the clock, before three free throws by White cut the lead to two with 11.9 seconds.
Beans pushed the lead back to four with free throws before White hit a contested three to cut the Furman lead to one. However, Beans continued his strong free throw shooting down the stretch to seal the 69-67 upset win for the Paladins.