Mercer basketball teams look to bounce back

Mercer’s men’s basketball team has had its share of close losses, but one of those was not at Wofford.

Mercer, which has suffered four of its six Southern Conference losses by two points each, lost 88-71 at Wofford in December. The two teams face off again at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Hawkins Arena.

Mercer is 11-13 overall and 5-6 in the conference after a 70-68 loss to Furman on Thursday. Wofford beat The Citadel 100-90 on Thursday to improve to 10-13 and 5-5.

Bouncing back?

Mercer’s women’s basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped Thursday in a 70-50 loss to Chattanooga.

The Bears look to rebound at 2 p.m. on Saturday at East Tennessee State. The Bears and Buccaneers are both 6-2 in conference play, a game behind first-place Chattanooga. Mercer, which beat East Tennessee State 72-55 in the first meeting, is 17-5 overall.

East Tennessee State has won five straight games to improve to 14-9.

More basketball

Georgia College’s basketball teams host North Georgia in a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Georgia College men have won two straight games to improve to 12-8 overall and 6-5 in the Peach Belt Conference. The women are 12-6 overall and 6-4.

Fort Valley State’s basketball teams will host Albany State in a doubleheader starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the Fort Valley State teams’ homecoming. The Fort Valley State men are 10-11 overall and 8-4 in the SIAC, while the women are 6-13 and 5-6.

Middle Georgia State’s basketball teams — women (6-13, 3-8 Southern States Athletic Conference) and men (11-8, 6-6) — host Loyola in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The Central Georgia Tech basketball teams host South Georgia Tech in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Sign them up

Mercer women’s soccer head coach Tony Economopoulos signed nine players to national letters-of-intent Thursday: Sarah Adcock, Madeline Alhamra, Rhette Cauilan, Jordyn Ebert, Ally Fordham, Payton Jamieson, Madi Johnson, Alina McCue and Brie Pavol.

Mercer finished 10-9-1 last year.　

“I’m very excited about this incoming 2017 class,” Economopoulos said. “We fulfilled several needs after graduating a very big and successful class. We have a couple of goalkeepers coming in, some midfielders, wide players and attacking players. Overall, this incoming class has some big shoes to fill, and I think they’re up to the task of helping us get back to the SoCon championship.”

Southern Conference poll

The Mercer softball team was picked tied for third in the Southern Conference preseason poll. The Bears were behind Furman and Samford and tied with UNC Greensboro. Mercer had two players named to the all-conference first team: junior third baseman Quirisa Mauga and senior outfielder Taylor Miller.

Mercer opens its season Feb. 10 against Kent State and Murray State.

Getting started

The Mercer men’s lacrosse team opens its seventh season at noon on Saturday against Vermont. The Bears finished 5-8 last year.

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Mercer basketball teams look to bounce back."