Sports

Mercer basketball tips off the season against FVSU. Here’s the Bears’ 2021-22 schedule

Mercer head coach Greg Gary yells out instructions from the bench during the Bears exhibition game against Fort Valley State Nov. 3.
Mercer head coach Greg Gary yells out instructions from the bench during the Bears exhibition game against Fort Valley State Nov. 3. jvorhees@macon.com

Mercer men’s basketball will begin its 2021 season on Wednesday against Fort Valley State University at Hawkins Arena. The Wildcats are the first of four in-state opponents featured on this season’s schedule including home games against Georgia State and Georgia Southern as well as a road game against Kennesaw State.

The Bears will renew their former Atlantic Sun Conference rivalry with a game against Florida Gulf Coast University on the road on Dec. 19.

Mercer will also participate in the Cancun Challenge from Nov. 20-24 in an in-season tournament which features matchups against St. Louis, Bucknell and a third matchup against either MTSU or Rider.

The team will begin conference play on the road against the Citadel on Dec. 29 before returning home to face Chattanooga on Jan. 1 in its first home game against a conference opponent.

Mercer is coming off of an 18-11 record but reached the SoCon Championship game against UNCG. The Bears lost 69-61 to the Spartans with a spot in the NCAA tournament on the line. Mercer had wins of Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern and Georgia State last season in addition to securing a spot in the title game by knocking off No. 10 seed Samford, No. 2 seed Wofford and No. 6 seed VMI.

The Bears will look to once again reach the conference title game and get back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2013-2014 season when the Bears beat Duke in the opening round matchup.

Mercer men’s basketball 2021-22 schedule

  • Nov. 3 vs FVSU
  • Nov. 9 at Arkansas
  • Nov. 13 at Winthrop
  • Nov. 16 vs Life University
  • Nov. 20 at Saint Louis (Cancun Challenge)
  • Nov. 23 vs Bucknell (Cancun Challenge)
  • Nov. 24 vs MTSU or Rider(Cancun Challenge)
  • Nov. 27 Milligan University
  • Dec. 1 at Kennesaw State
  • Dec. 4 vs Georgia State
  • Dec. 6 at Coastal Carolina
  • Dec. 11 vs Georgia Southern
  • Dec. 19 at Florida Gulf Coast University
  • Dec. 22 vs Troy
  • Dec. 29 at The Citadel
  • Jan. 1 vs Chattanooga
  • Jan. 5 vs Samford
  • Jan. 8 at Furman
  • Jan. 13 vs VMI
  • Jan. 15 vs UNCG
  • Jan.19 at ETSU
  • Jan. 22 vs Western Carolina
  • Jan. 26 at Samford
  • Jan. 29 vs Furman
  • Jan. 31 vs Wofford
  • Feb. 5 at Chattanooga
  • Feb. 10 at VMI
  • Feb. 13 at UNCG
  • Feb. 16 vs ETSU
  • Feb. 19 at Western Carolina
  • Feb. 23.vs The Citadel
  • Feb. 26 at Wofford

This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 2:14 PM.

JB
Justin Baxley
The Telegraph
Justin Baxley is the fan life reporter at The Telegraph and writes stories centered around entertainment, food and sports in the Macon community. Justin joined the Telegraph staff after graduating from Mercer University in May 2017 with a degree in criminal justice and journalism. During his time at Mercer he served as the sports editor for The Cluster.
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