WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Mercer men’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak as it defeated UNCW, 72-63, on Monday night.
Djordje Dimitrijevic led the way for the Bears with 23 points. Ethan Stair tallied 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Making his first appearance of the season, Jeff Gary tallied 10 points for the Bears. Mercer hit 11 3-pointers in the win and shot 40.6 percent from the floor.
The Bears and Seahawks opened the contest by trading baskets and neither team could take control of the game. With the Bears down one, 9-8, Stair hit back-to-back 3-pointers, putting the Bears ahead, 14-9. Mercer slowly grew the lead to seven, 22-15, after a Gary 3.
Over the next few minutes, the Bears saw their lead cut to two, 29-27, after a Jaylen Sims 3-pointer with 6:28 to go before halftime. Two minutes later, Sims hit another 3-pointer and tied the game at 31-31. Over the final four minutes of the first half, Mercer outscored UNCW, 6-4, taking a 37-35 lead into halftime.
The Seahawks scored the first bucket of the second half before they went scoreless for a four-minute drought. During that time, the Bears’ offense heated up as they went on a 13-0 run capped off by a Gary fast-break layup. With 16 minutes to go in the contest, Mercer led 50-37.
Mercer stretched its lead to a game-high 14 points, with 12:02 left, as Stair hit a jumper in the paint. Over the next five minutes, the Bears’ lead of 12 was down to four points after a Marten Linssen dunk. A fast-break layup by Daniel Love put the Bears ahead by eight.
The Bears did not let the Seahawks get closer than five points for the remainder of the game. Mercer extended its lead to nine points twice during the final six minutes of the game. Over the final 30 seconds of the contest, Mercer went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
NOTABLES
• Stair is the first Mercer player since Stephon Jelks on Jan. 9, 2016, to record 15 or more rebounds in a game.
• The Bears hit 11 3-pointers as a team. This was the first time since Nov. 6 against St. John’s the Bears have hit over 10 3-pointers in a contest. Five different players hit a 3 in the win.
• Mercer picked up 18 assists on 26 made baskets against UNCW.
• In addition to his 23 points, Dimitrijevic tallied five rebounds and five assists.
• The Bears improve to 8-3 in nonconference contests against teams from the state of North Carolina.
UP NEXT
The Bears return to action on Friday, Dec. 20, when they host Furman in the Bears’ Southern Conference opener. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.