No. 8 Mercer 84, No. 9 The Citadel 76
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Shooting a blistering 57 percent from the field, No. 8 seed Mercer sailed to a first- round victory, 84-76, over No. 9 seed The Citadel at the 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
The Bears (16-16), considered the hottest team entering the tournament having won five of their last six games including victories over the top two seeds, advance to the quarterfinals tomorrow to face No. 1 seed Samford (26-5) at noon EST. Samford lost to Mercer on the road in their last meeting, 88-84, on Feb. 17.
Sparked by freshman guard David Thomas, who scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, the Bears carved up The Citadel’s defense for 30 field goals on 53 attempts. Supplementing Thomas’ big night were four other players in double figures with Jayln McCreary (14), Alex Holt (11), Jalen Cobb (10) and Robby Carmody (10).
The Citadel trailed only 22-20 midway through the first half, but Mercer outscored the Bulldogs, 15-7, to close out the half, taking a 37-27 lead into the locker room. The Bears were aided by eight turnovers by The Citadel and a 19-10 advantage in rebounding in that first half.
After whittling the lead to 54-49 with 10:34 left in the second half, The Citadel never really challenged again as Mercer rattled off nine unanswered points to take a 63-49 edge to ice the victory.
Madison Durr led The Citadel’s scoring with 22 points. Quentin Millora-Brown, the league’s No. 2 field goal percentage shooter (.594) and the single season school record-holder for double-doubles with 16, scored 13 points and snatched 12 rebounds. His first rebound of the game broke the all-time school mark (288) for most rebounds in a season. With The Citadel’s loss, Millora-Brown finishes the campaign with 299 rebounds.
RECORDS: No. 8 Mercer 16-16, No. 9 The Citadel 11-21
STATS TO KNOW
- Mercer shot above 50 percent from the 3-point line, making 8-of-15 beyond the arc.
- The Bulldogs hurt their cause at the foul line, missing 10 of 23 attempts versus Mercer.
- Mercer held a significant advantage over The Citadel in bench points (25 to 3)
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No. 7 ETSU 98, No. 10 VMI 66
ASHEVILLE, N.C.-- Overcoming a sluggish start and spirited effort by upset-minded 10th seed VMI, the No. 7 seed ETSU Buccaneers posted a 98-66 first-round blowout victory over the Keydets at the 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament Friday night at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
ETSU, which trailed by seven points early and didn’t gain the lead until 7:59 left in the first half (24-22), will advance to the quarterfinals to play No. 2 seed UNCG on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Jadyn Parker, a 6-10 redshirt junior from Shallotte, North Carolina, led a balanced Bucs scoring attack with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Five other players reached double figures including Tyler Rice (team-high 13), Jaden Seymour (12), Maki Johnson (12), Ebby Asamoah (11) and Braden Ilic (11).
Parlaying a wide disparity at the foul line, the Bucs threaded 23-of-32 free throws, while VMI made only 9-of-18 attempts. ETSU (17-15), which scored 56 points in the second half, has now won three straight and four of its last five games.
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Sophomore guard Taeshaud Jackson II led all VMI scorers with 16 points and came within an eyelash of a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Keydet freshman Stephen Olowoniyi, who entered the game with a .554 field goal percentage, nailed 5-of-7 attempts for 11 points off the VMI bench.
RECORDS: No. 7 ETSU 17-15, No. 10 VMI 4-28
STATS TO KNOW
- ETSU swept all three meetings against VMI this season.
- The Bucs now boast a 43-25 all-time record (.632) in SoCon Tournament play.
- Brennan Watkins, the Keydets leading scorer (15.2 ppg), did not play.
- VMI’s bench was outscored by ETSU, 51-15