Mercer Moves on to CBI Second Round

Mercer got a big night from its backcourt, as senior Jordan Strawberry and sophomore Ross Cummings scored 21 points apiece, leading the Bears past Grand Canyon, 78-73, in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Wednesday night before 5,941 fans at GCU Arena.

With the win, Mercer posted its sixth 19-win season in the past seven campaigns, improving to

19-14 overall, while Grand Canyon concluded its season with a 22-12 overall mark. The Bears will move on to the second round of the CBI and will travel to North Texas to face the Mean Green Monday evening in Denton, TX for a second round contest. Tip-off is slated for that contest is slated for 8 p.m. EST. The win over the Lopes was Mercer’s ninth in last 10 games.

Strawberry and Cummings finished the night as two of the four players in double figures for the Bears, with seniors Demetre Rivers and Ria’n Holland rounding out the double-figure scorers with 13 and 10 points, respectively. For Holland, it was the first time he has played for the Bears in a month, as Mercer’s leading scorer had been sidelined since late January with a wrist injury before returning Wednesday night.

Strawberry and Cummings combined to knock down six of the Bears’ 10 trifectas in the contest, with Cummings finishing 5-of-7 from long range and Strawberry connecting on 1-of-4 attempts from long range. Strawberry also went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line and dished out a team-high eight assists. Seventeen of Strawberry’s 21 points came in the second half.

The Bears came out and controlled the game on the opening half of play, leading by as many as nine points (24-15) following a Rivers dunk a little midway through the opening frame. However, the Lopes would respond and would close the deficit to just one (33-34) late in the half following an Oscar Freyer triple with 1:07 remaining in the frame. But Strawberry would close the half with a pair of charity shots and Mercer clung to a 36-33 lead as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.

In the second half, Mercer was nearly flawless down the stretch in the contest, and many times quieted the often rowdy, raucous GCU crowd by scoring on six of its final eight possessions to close out the road postseason win.

However, there were eight lead changes and seven ties in the second half, and when the Lopes grabbed their largest lead of the night (59-53) following a Fifii Aidoo bucket at the 9:49 mark, it looked as though the Bears might be in danger of being one-and-done in the 2018 college basketball postseason.

Head coach Bob Hoffman’s Bears would respond, however, using an 8-2 spurt to tie the game, 61-61, following a Cummings layup in the paint with 7:20 to play. That set the stage for the Bears to score on six of its final eight possessions to close out five-point road win.

The Bears posted an impressive 51% shooting clip from the field, including 50% from three-point range, and out-rebounded the Lopes, 36-30.

Grand Canyon had four players place in double figures, led by Keonta Brown’s 20 points, while Casey Benson added 17. Alessandro Lever and Frayer closed out the double figure scorers for the Lopes, posting 10 points apiece, respectively.







Stay tuned for a full preview of Mercer and North Texas coming up this weekend.