- J. Andrew Lockwood -
Senior Editor of The Bear Zone/ Sports Columnist
james.andrew.lockwood@student.mercer.edu In the final regular season game of the year, Mercer’s men lost 103-81 in a contest that wasn’t really as close as the score showed. It was a tough final road trip for Mercer (17-14, 11-9) as they lost in double overtime to USC-Upstate 93-90 before losing to the Bucs in Johnson City, Tennessee. Within the course of a week, they fell from a definite fourth seed or higher to the sixth seed.
How a week in the Atlantic Sun makes all the difference. A huge home finale win against 2008 A-Sun Champ Belmont had the home fans thinking about a series run in the postseason conference tournament. Surprisingly, the losses could actually help the Bears as far as match-ups go. They play #3 Belmont (18-11, 14-6) on Thursday, March 5th in Nashville at 2:30pm on a neutral court on Lipscomb’s campus. The Bruins and Bears split their two regular season match-ups this year, with the home team winning both times. By all accounts though, Mercer should’ve won both games, losing to Belmont in Nashville in a 86-82 effort in overtime. Add in the fact that Calvin Henry tore his MCL to shreds in that game and you kind of get the feeling that Mercer could match up well with their A-Sun rivals come Thursday. One or two wins during the past weekend would have most likely matched the Bears with Lipscomb or Campbell, two teams Mercer couldn’t contain or beat during four regular season games.
In his first A-Sun season, head coach Bob Hoffman has built his offense around four juniors that can score and scrap for the basketball. All four players, James Florence, Daniel Emerson, E.J. Kusnyer, and Michael Ellis are playing the best basketball of the college careers, with Florence leading the way averaging 20.7 points per game, 2nd most in the league. Emerson ranks first in the conference with 10.6 rebounds per game (14th nationally) and currently leads the league with 15 double-doubles this season. Kusnyer’s 38 three-point field goals are first in the conference as well and Michael Ellis’s 10.9 points per game in the month of February have filled the gap left by senior Calvin Henry’s knee injury.
Despite the nice statistical numbers, the Bears must overcome losing their final two regular season games before their first round matchup against Belmont. “The past two games were really rough, especially losing to USC-Upstate in double overtime like we did. In some ways, I think we gave it away to them,” commented Emerson after the final regular season game. He went on to add, “ETSU came out on fire against us…I’ve never seen anything like it. They just couldn’t miss.”
However, Emerson and his teammates were optimistic about the 1st round matchup, adding, “We’re pretty comfortable matching up with Belmont. We feel pretty confident right now despite the two losses and now we’ve just got to get ready for the tournament. It’s a whole new season.”
A new season it will be on Thursday. One loss and it’s over, one win and you live to play another day. After all, that’s life in the Atlantic Sun.
Photo Courtesy of MercerBears.com
- J. Andrew Lockwood -
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