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| Furman freshman forward Cole Bowser (photo courtesy of Mercer athletics) |
MACON, GA.--For just the third time in the past 11 years, Furman suffered its third-straight loss in Southern Conference play, as Mercer moved to 12-0 at home this season and snapped a two-game SoCon losing skid with a 69-64 win over the Paladins at Hawkins Arena.
With the win, the Bears improved to 16-10 overall and 8-5 in SoCon play moving into sole possession of third place in the SoCon standings, and just a game behind Wofford (17-9, 9-4 SoCon), which lost 97-80 at Samford this evening.
The Paladins fell into a three-way tie for fourth-place in the standings with its third-straight SoCon loss, as Furman falls to 16-10 overall and 7-6 in SoCon play. The win gives the Bears the series split against the Paladins, after dropping 74-72 meeting at Timmons Arena back on Dec. 31. Furman (7-6), Samford (7-6) and UNC Greensboro (7-6) are all now tied in the standings, with the Paladins holding the tiebreaker over Samford by virtue of sweep of the Bulldogs and over UNCG by virtue of a win over Mercer, which swept the Spartans.
For Furman, it marks its third three-game losing streak in league play in the past 11 seasons, and first since the 2021-22 campaign. The Paladins have now lost six SoCon games by a combined 21 points this season. The five-point margin of victory is the closest for the Bears at Hawkins Arena in 12 outings this season.
Mercer guard Baraka Okojie led all scorers with 25 points, which included a 6-of-16 effort from the field and was 12-of-14 from the charity stripe and finished 1-of-2 from beyond the three-point line. In addition to his 10th 20+point scoring effort of the season, including seventh in league play, complimented his scoring effort with four rebounds, three assists, one steal and only one turnover.
Okojie was one of three Bears players in double figures, as he was joined by Brady Shoulders, who added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, finishing with all of his points coming in the second half, while Zaire Williams added 13. Shoulders' double-double marked his third of the 2025-26 season.
While he struggled once again offensively against Furman after getting into early foul trouble, Armani Mighty did end up making a big difference for the Bears in the end. He finished the night with just seven points but added 14 rebounds and two blocks. Mighty added five of the team's 14 offensive rebounds and now has seven blocks in two games this season against the Paladins, despite failing to find double figures in the scoring column in either matchup this season. He combined with Shoulders to grab 27 of the team's 44 total rebounds in the game.
Despite shooting just 35.9% (23-of-64) from the field, the Bears won the backboards by seven (44-37) and ended up with a slight edge in points in the paint (30-26). The Bears struggled from three-point range, connecting on just 25.0% (5-of-20) from beyond the three-point line.
Mercer held a substantial advantage in fast-break points (19-6) and outscored the Paladins by 10 at the free throw line (18-8) and attempted eight more free throws (21-13). The Bears held a slight advantage in points from turnovers (6-5), while the Paladins held a pretty substantial advantage in bench points (21-10). Furman held the advantage in total assists (13-7).
Meanwhile, Furman struggled shooting the basketball all evening, connecting on just 37.7% (23-of-61) from the field and only 30.3% (10-of-33) from three-point land. The Paladins also shot the ball at just a 61.5% (8-of-13) clip from the free throw line.
Furman finished with four in double figures, with Asa Thomas returning to the double figures scoring column in his second game back after being out for a month win a lower body injury, as he led the way for the 'Dins with 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field, including 2-for-9 from three-point range. He also added three rebounds, an assist and a block.
Joining Thomas in double figures on Wednesday night were both Charles Johnston and Cooper Bowser, who added 11 points apiece, while Tom House added 10 off the bench. It was uncharacteristically quiet night from freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, who finished with just seven points after entering the contest averaging 18 PPG.
Wilkins finished the night just 1-of-7 from the field and was 0-for-2 from three-point range, however, added five assists with just two turnovers and added a pair of rebounds. The freshman from Mattapan, MA., posted just his fourth game in single digits this season for the Paladins.
The win by the Bears saw Mercer snap a three-game losing skid in the series, and it was Ryan Ridder's first win over Furman in his second year as the head coach at Mercer, with the Bears improving to 13-30 overall in the all-time series with Furman.
How It Happened:
Both Furman and Mercer battled hard for a majority of the evening, however, the shooting left a lot to be desired on both ends, but it was the Bears that found a way to win the game in a contest that ended up being a rock fight for much of the game, as both teams played good defense, producing a physical encounter from tip-to-buzzer.
Like the loss at ETSU last Wednesday, the Paladins ended up holding the lead for a majority of the game, with the Paladins leading for roughly 30 of the 40-minute contest. However, over the final 6:39 of the game, the Bears would seize control of the game when Baraka Okojie's bucket in the paint gave the Bears their first lead since the 11:58 mark of the opening half, at 11-9), and the Bears would relinquish the lead only once more to hold on for the key five-point Southern Conference home win to remain perfect inside Hawkins Arena this season.
The opening half saw a tight, physical game unfold and it would be the Paladins that would pull ahead by as many as 10 in the opening 20 minutes of action, at 25-15, following a Collin O'Neal three-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer with 5:43 remaining in the half.
The Bears would then get a quick five points on a layup by Connor Serven and an Okojie three in transition, which was part of a 11-1 run, as the Bears pulled even late in the first half on another Okojie free throw, at 26-26, with 1:55 remaining in the half.
After having gone scoreless from the field over four minutes, Asa Thomas' three-pointer on the next trip down the floor restored Furman's lead, at 29-26 with 1:38 remaining. However, Zaire Williams was able to convert a three-point play the old-fashioned way to tie the game, 29-29, with 1:19 remaining before Cooper Bowser's layup in the paint with 48 seconds remaining would eventually give the Paladins a slight 31-29 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, a pair of free throws by Alex Wilkins helped extend Furman's lead back to two possessions (33-29) and later a Cole Bowser extended the lead to six, at 45-39, as he knocked down a three with 15:54 remaining.
The Bears appeared ready to take control of the game following a 7-2 spurt, which was capped by a Zaire Williams three-pointer, getting the Bears to within a point, at 47-46, with 13:16 remaining. Tom House and Okojie exchanged free throws to keep the margin at one in favor of the visiting Paladins and a driving layup by Thomas at the 10:39 mark gave the Paladins a 51-48 lead, as the Paladins would go scoreless for the next five minutes in the contest, and that would eventually see the Bears make their decisive move in the game.
Quinton Perkins II again got Mercer to within a point, at 51-50, with 9:35 remaining before Okojie's layup three minutes later finally gave the Bears their first lead of the second half at the 6:39 mark with a layup.
Then following a missed layup by Wilkins and Mighty rebounded for the Bears, with the ball finding its way Brady Shoulders in transition for a wide open three and a four-point lead, at 55-51, with 6:12 remaining. It gave the Bears' sparse midweek crowd something to cheer about that wasn't a dozen box of Krispy Kreme doughnut giveaway organized by Mercer's marketing team, as the crowd came to life in unison for the first time about something actually happening in the game.
The doughnuts were sweet, but victory would be sweeter. Mercer's four-point lead almost became six when Shoulders came up with a steal on Furman's ensuing inbounds pass, however, he missed the layup and the Paladins got a big corner three from Cole Bowser to snap a five-minute scoring drought, cutting the deficit back to one, at 55-54, with 5:39 remaining.
Just as he had done in a late-game situation at ETSU a week earlier, Charles Johnston came up with a big block to give the Paladins a chance to re-take the lead, and after corralling the rebound, passed to Alex Wilkins who took a couple of dribbles and then flicked his wrist with a pass from mid-court to find Cooper Bowser on about a 35-foot lob pass and the 6-11 junior flushed it home to give the Paladins a 56-55 lead with 5:05 remaining, which was much to the dismay of Ryan Ridder, who immediately called timeout.
Following the timeout, the Bears were settled and would reel of seven-straight points in a decisive run, as Williams split the lane with a driving layup, and following a Serven block of a House layup attempt, Shoulders again found himself open for three in transition from the top of the key to extend Mercer's lead to four, at 60-56, with 4:19 left.
On Furman's ensuing possession, Thomas' three was off the mark and Okojie under-handed a beautiful assist after forcing a Furman defender to commit in the air, and Mighty did the rest by rocking the rim with a two-handed flush to give the Bears a six-point, 62-56, lead with 3:37 left. After a House layup, Williams scored Mercer's final points from the field of the game, keeping the margin at six, at 64-58, with 2:58 remaining.
The margin remained at two possessions until a Wilkins free throw followed by a layup got the Paladins back to within three, at 65-62, with 1:24 left. Following an Okojie missed three on the other end, which would have likely been enough to put the game out of reach for the Bears, the Paladins tried to draw within a point on a Thomas layup attempt, however, Mighty swatted the ball out of play towards the athletic offices and behind the Furman bench in Hawkins Arena.
Wilkins threw a difficult inbounds pass and the ball found its way to the opposite side of the floor to Thomas, who launched a three that looked true, but the ball spun in and then out, as it went halfway down before caroming out, but Johnston was their for the offensive rebound and second-chance opportunity, getting the Paladins to within a point, at 65-64, with 22 seconds left.
Furman was forced to foul at this point, and after Okojie was fouled by Bronson and made both freebies to extend the Mercer lead back to three, at 67-64, Thomas' long three-pointer was no good and was right into the waiting arms of Shoulders, who was fouled by Cole Bowser with 12 seconds remaining. The 67% foul shooter connected on both and Mercer held off Furman for a 69-64 win at Hawkins Arena, improving to 12-0 inside the friendly confines this season.
Prior to the five-point thriller against Furman, Mercer's only other single-digit win at Hawkins Arena this season was a 75-67 win over current Sun Belt leader and former SoCon member Appalachian State back on Nov. 26.
Both teams return to action this weekend, with Furman traveling to face VMI (6-20,1-12 SoCon) at Cameron Hall Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. contest, while Mercer will be in Charleston to battle The Citadel (9-17, 6-7 SoCon) in a 1 p.m. game at McAlister Field House.
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