Big Thursday Night of Hoops in the SoCon

Furman Ready To Head To Mercer Thursday Night

Furman won a tight, 74-71 in the first meeting this season

Furman (15-7, 6-3) at Mercer (10-12, 3-6)

Preview: 

For many opponents over the years, Mercer has not been an easy place to play for pretty much any team in the Southern Conference. Last time out, the Bears were beaten by The Citadel this past Saturday, dropping a 76-74 decision to the Bulldogs--it was the first loss by the Bears to the Bulldogs since 1927. 

The Bears and Paladins have developed a good rivalry in the Southern Conference over the past few years, with most of the meetings coming down to the wire. 

That would be how the first meeting between the two this season panned out earlier in the season, with Furman rebounding from as much as a nine-point deficit earlier in the second half to take a 74-71 win over the Bears. In the eight meetings between the two since Mercer joined the Southern Conference prior to the 2014-15 season, seven of the meetings have been decided by single digits. The only meeting that was decided by double digits came in February of 2016, as Furman posted an 85-74 win over Mercer on Senior Day for Stephen Croone. That marks the only double-digit win for either team in the series since Mercer joined the SoCon.

The Paladins have won four-straight in the series, but none of those wins have come easy. In last season's meeting at Hawkins Arena, it took a Daniel Fowler jumper in the lane with 2.3 seconds to play to lift Furman to the 70-68 triumph. All told, Thursday night's meeting will mark the 24th between the two league rivals, with the Paladins holding a narrow 13-10 all-time series edge. 

The Bears were the coaches' pick to win the Southern Conference, but things haven't gone according to plan--at least thus far. But it's not necessarily because the Bears have been underachievers this season. In fact, one could argue that they have had some hard luck. Bob Hoffman's squad has been in pretty much all of the six games the Bears have lost in SoCon play this season. 

In fact, the Bears have lost five of their six games in league play by single digits, with only the 19-point home loss to East Tennessee State to open Southern Conference play representing the lone double-digit loss. In fact, the Bears were in the game most of the game in an 84-75 road loss at East Tennessee State last week.

Recently, Bob Hoffman claimed his 500th win as a head coach, and the Bears will be looking to put an end to a three-game losing streak since Hoffman claimed his 500th win. Mercer is very much in the running for a top six seed for the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, and will be a dangerous out for whoever they play in March.

Furman has won 57 games since the start of the 2015-16 season, and with eight more wins this season, the Paladins would have more wins in a three-year span than any three-year juncture in school history, surpassing the 1972-75 Paladins, which won 64 games. Eight wins would also tie last season's single-season tying 23 wins, as the Paladins advanced all the way to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament semifinals, losing to eventual champion St. Peters. 

Who To Watch:

Mercer has obviously missed Ria'n Holland (19.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG), who is out two to three weeks with an injury, and with him being the leading scorer when he went out of the lineup, and one of the best scorers in the SoCon, it has put more scoring pressure on others in the backcourt to fill that void.

One of the players that has stepped up in the backcourt for the Bears in the absence of two different players this season has been freshman guard Marcus Cohen (5.5 PPG, 1.3 RPG). Against Furman in the first matchup between the two this season, the Bears were without veteran guard Jordan Strawberry (8.9 PPG, 3.4 RPG), who missed the game with the flu. Cohen came in and scored a then career-high 14 points.

In Mercer's first full game without Holland, which came last Thursday night in an 84-75 loss at league-leading East Tennessee State. All Cohen did was come in and eclipse that previous career-high of 14 pts against Furman, posting 16 points in the road loss at ETSU. Cohen had 10 points, four assists and five boards last time out against The Citadel.

While Cohen has been the first player off the bench for the Bears this season, Ethan Stair (6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG) has been inserted into the starting lineup this season for the Bears. Stair is a talented, highly-recruited redshirt sophomore guard that can be a threat from the perimeter. Stair will be making his seventh start of the season tonight against the Paladins, but has gone scoreless in the last two games after scoring 10 points in an overtime road loss to UNCG. His point production tonight could prove key in whether the Bears win or lose this one to the Paladins.

Rounding out the starting five in the backcourt for the Bears will be Strawberry and Demetre Rivers (10.2 PPG, 2.7 RPG).Strawberry needs just four points to reach a special milestone as a player, which would give him 1,000 points for his career.

Rivers is Mercer's third-leading scorer, and had an explosive dunk off the right baseline in the first meeting with Furman last month. He finished that first game against the Paladins with 13 points and five boards. Rivers is also one of the best foul shooters in the Southern Conference, having connected on 50-of-57 (87.7%) from the charity stripe through the first 22 games this season.

In the paint, Stephon Jelks (10.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG) and Desmond Ringer (8.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG) will round out the starting five for the Bears. Jelks and Ringer are the biggest reasons why the Bears rank second in the SoCon in rebound margin (+5.6) and leads the league in rebounding defense (29.6). Ringer had a monster game against the Paladins last time out, posting a career-high tying 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Ringer also excelled in last week's loss to ETSU, posting 21 points on a perfect 9-for-9 from the field, including opening the game with a three-pointer on his only attempt. Ringer just missed a double-double against ETSU, posting nine boards.

Jelks enters the contest ranking second in the SoCon in rebounding, and is having an all-conference caliber season after suffering a bit of a swoon in his numbers last season. Jelks is one of the most versatile players in the SoCon, with his ability to score inside, as well as being a consistent scorer from beyond the arc. Jelks has connected on 46.5% (33-for-71) from beyond the arc this season, and leads the team with 12 blocks.

Furman counters with an experienced starting five, with three seniors and a pair of juniors in the starting lineup in Thursday night's contest. It all starts with preseason SoCon Player of the Year Devin Sibley (15.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG), who is still recovering from a dislocated pinky finger, but showed little effect of that last time out in a win over Western Carolina, finishing with 23 points. It was Sibley's ninth 20-point game of the season. With five points this evening, Sibley will move into the top 10 on Furman's all-time scoring charts, surpassing the 1,690 career points posted by former Furman great George Singleton (1982-85). Sibley enters ranking third in the SoCon in scoring (15.3 PPG) and third in field goal percentage (49.3%).

Sibley will be joined in the backcourt by three other guards, in seniors John Davis III (11.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 51 assists) and Daniel Fowler (11.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 62 assists), while junior Andrew Brown (7.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG) rounds out the starters in the backcourt for the Paladins. John Davis III is coming off a 19-point effort the last time out against Western Carolina, while Daniel Fowler has proven to be the "Mercer Menace" in his career. His 10-foot jumper in the lane helped Furman to a 70-68 road win last season.

In the earlier meeting with the Bears earlier this season, Furman closed out the game on a 24-12 run, with Daniel Fowler scoring 11 of his team-high 21 points during the stretch, finishing out a hard-fought, 74-71, win over Mercer.

In the front court, the Paladins will rely on 6-7 junior Matt Rafferty (11.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.0 PPG), who continues to be the most consistent Paladin this season. Rafferty enters ranking fourth in the SoCon in rebounding (7.5 RPG),  11th in assists-per-game (3.0 APG), 18th in scoring (11.8 PPG) and eighth in blocks (18 blocks/0.8 BPG).

Off the bench, keep an eye on both senior forward Geoff Beans (3.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG) and sophomore microwave scorer Jordan Lyons (7.7 PPG, 1.4 RPG) from Peachtree City, GA and was McIntosh High School's all-time leading scorer. Lyons was huge off the bench last season for the Paladins in Macon, and is an absolute scorer.

In the first meeting between these two in Greenville, Mercer had a substantial advantage on the backboards, out-rebounding the Paladins by 13, with a 37-24 margin on the glass.

Final Score Prediction: Furman 72, Mercer 69

ETSU going for season sweep of Samford and 14th-straight win/photo courtesy of Samford athletics

League-leading East Tennessee State Set to Host Samford Thursday Night

Samford (8-15, 4-6) at East Tennessee State (19-4, 10-0)

Preview:

East Tennessee State will go in search of its 14th-straight win and 20th win Thursday night when it faces Samford in a key Southern Conference game at Freedom Hall.

The Bucs have won 17 of their last 18 games and own the nation's third-longest winning streak. It will mark just the 12th all-time meeting between ETSU and Samford, with the Bucs holding a commanding 10-1 all-time series advantage, including a 90-72 victory by the Bucs in Birmingham earlier this season. 

The Bucs are on their longest winning streak since the 2003-04 ETSU squad won 16 games in a row. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Bucs are 70-24 against all competition. With a 20th win tonight over the Bulldogs, it would mark the 20th season in the 100-year history of ETSU basketball that a Buccaneer basketball team has won 20 games in a single-season.

ETSU is coming off a 73-71 win last time out on the road at The Citadel, while Samford was a 92-79 winner over VMI, which snapped a five-game losing streak last time out at the Pete Hanna Center. 

Who To Watch:

For the Bucs, they have been strong all season defensively, and on both ends of the floor, the big leader has been Desonta Bradford (14.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 3.5 APG), who enters tonight's contest as the reigning Southern Conference. Bradford continues to be the heartbeat of this team on both ends of the floor. Bradford has been clutch for the Bucs all season, including his game-winning shot with 4.5 seconds remaining at Furman, allowing ETSU to emerge with a 62-61 win.

Bradford, a senior guard from Humboldt, TN, is the only player in the SoCon to rank in the Top 10 of multiple statistical categories. He ranks in the top 10 in points (14.5 PPG), assists (3.5 APG), steals (1.7 SPG), assist/turnover ratio (1.6), defensive rebounds (5.2) and minutes played (32.0). Thanks to the very astute and talented SID, Michael White at East Tennessee State, for that stat in the game notes.

Bradford brings athleticism and savvy to the backcourt, much like former Buc guards Trazel Silvers and Rodney English. He is cast in very much the same mold of those two aforementioned players. 

Bradford will be joined in the starting lineup for the Bucs by both Jermaine Long (3.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG) and Jalan McCloud (12.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.7 APG). Long has been outstanding on the defensive end of the floor this season, and is one of the best one-on-one defenders in the SoCon, if not all of mid-major basketball. McCloud has stepped up and been a big piece on the offensive end for the Bucs this season, and his experience of having won a SWAC Tournament and playing in the NCAA Tournament at Texas Southern last season has loomed large for Steve Forbes' Bucs, especially in clutch situations. 

Rounding out the starting five for the Bucs will be David Burrell (6.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG)--maybe the best all-around athlete in the Southern Conference--and seven-footer Peter Jurkin (7.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG), who is having an outstanding season for ETSU so far in his final campaign as a Buc. I still hold to the opinion that he is the best rim-protector in the SoCon, although I think James Dickey is a close second.

If you looked at my mid-season SoCon superlatives, you will have noticed that my top sixth man in the league this season was Devontavius Payne (9.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG). Payne's threat as a perimeter shooter is so dangerous off the bench, but he can also score in a variety of different ways. Bo Hodges (9.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG) has been one of the most exciting freshman players in the SoCon to watch this season, and his future is very bright in the Blue and Gold.

Samford counters with point guard Justin Coleman (14.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 5.9 APG), who is likely the top transfer newcomer in the SoCon this season. Coleman, a former talented point guard in the SEC at Alabama, has had an outstanding first season in the SoCon for fourth-year head coach Scott Padgett. Coleman recorded a single-game school-record 13 assists in a win at The Citadel earlier this season. 

Coleman will be joined the backcourt by Triston Chambers (8.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG) and Josh Sharkey (6.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 4.7 APG), while Demetrius Denzel-Dyson (14.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG) and Eric Adams (7.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG) will comprise the front court for the Bulldogs. Chambers is coming off an outstanding performance last time out in a win over VMI, connecting on eight three-pointers and scoring a career-high 34 points in the win over VMI last time out. 

Sharkey is one of, if not, the quickest guard in the SoCon. He currently ranks second in the SoCon in assists-per-game, averaging 4.7 helpers-per-game. He has had a rather large role to fill, with Christen Cunningham having missed most of the season with an injury in the Samford backcourt. 

Denzel-Dyson has probably been Samford's most consistent scorer this season, while Adams has had some solid performances, but the Bulldogs still clearly miss Wyatt Walker. Alex Peters (4.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG) has been solid off the bench at times, but Samford severely lacks depth in the frontcourt. 

Final Score Prediction: ETSU 77, Samford 62