Georgia Southern, Mercer renew rivalry

Mercer and Georgia Southern used to have a pretty intense rivalry in men’s basketball, but it no doubt has cooled, considering the Bears and Eagles haven’t played since 2007.

It may pick up where it left off when the two meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Hawkins Arena as part of the Savannah Invitational.

The format includes another home game for Mercer against Radford on Tuesday before heading to Savannah. Mercer plays East Carolina on Friday, with Saturday’s opponent to be determined.

Georgia Southern leads the long series 73-40, winning 80-69 in the last meeting, on Nov. 26, 2007 in Statesboro.

The Eagles are 1-1 under fourth-year head coach Mark Byington.

Georgia Southern has all five starters back and 11 with experience, including 94 percent of the scoring and rebounding.

Guard Tookie Brown is a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference pick, and had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds in an 81-79 loss to N.C. State.

Shawn Glenn, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, had nine points and seven rebounds against the Wolfpack.

Mercer is 1-1 under ninth-year head coach Bob Hoffman.

The Bears opened the season with an 87-53 win over Brewton-Parker, then struggled early in a 76-54 loss to Florida on Nov. 13.

Ria’n Holland had 21 points against the Gators, who led by 22 points at halftime.

Mercer’s defense will get a test against a team averaging 85.5 points a game, 15 points better than the Bears. But Georgia Southern’s defense will battle a tam that averages 16 assists, 5.5 more than the Eagles.

After the Savannah Invitational is completed, Mercer has a pair of quality games, one at home and one one the road. The Bears host Davidson on Nov. 29 and then visit George Mason on Dec. 3.

This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 9:13 PM with the headline "Georgia Southern, Mercer renew rivalry."