Jelks leads Mercer to big win at Samford

Mercer tied a season-high with 14 3-pointers and Stephon Jelks notched a double-double as Mercer held on for a 68-65 win Wednesday at Samford in Southern Conference men’s basketball.

Jelks was 4-of-12 from the field, including four 3-pointers for the Bears (8-10, 2-3 Southern Conference). Demetre Rivers added 13 points and five rebounds, Jordan Strawberry had 12 points and four rebounds and Ria'n Holland chipped in 11 points.

The Bears trailed 31-30 at the break and the teams battled back-and-forth in the second until Jelks sank a 3-pointer that gave the Bears the lead for good, 61-59, with 5:04 to play. A pair of free throws by Wyatt Walker brought Samford to within one, 66-65, with six seconds to play, but Rashad Lewis answered for Mercer with two free throws of his own.

Samford's Christen Cunningham missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Walker scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (12-6, 3-2).

Jelks got Mercer’s first double-double of the season. All four of his field goals were from beyond the arc and he was all over the floor with 11 rebounds.

Mercer made a lot of 3s, but more impressive was the second-half accuracy, 71.4 percent (10-for-14).

Samford was undefeated this season when leading at the half, until Wednesday. Mercer outscored Samford in the second half, 38-34.

It marked the first time since the team’s win over Oglethorpe (Dec. 7) that Mercer had four different players in double-digit scoring.

Rashad Lewis tied a career-high eight assists.

Mercer is back home for a 2 p.m. game Saturday against Chattanooga, which beat The Citadel 83-73 on Wednesday to improve to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play, good for second place.

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 11:48 PM with the headline "Jelks leads Mercer to big win at Samford."