Mercer falls to Chattanooga in another close loss

Games decided by close margins continue to be a stumbling block for Mercer.

The Bears came out on the losing end of a game decided by two points or fewer for the fifth time this season, coming up just short on Saturday against Southern Conference co-leader Chattanooga, losing 70-68 at Hawkins Arena.

Neither side pulled away in Saturday’s back and forth contest, the Bears (8-11 overall, 2-4 Southern Conference) holding a slim lead until a little more than 13 minutes remained in the game. The Mocs (14-4, 5-1) led by as many as seven points in the final 10 minutes, but Mercer rallied, trailing by as few as two points.

But a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Ria’n Holland in the closing seconds was blocked, and Chattanooga’s Rodney Chatman sank a free throw to make it a two-score game and wrap up the win.

Four who mattered

Holland: The junior guard had another big day, ripping Chattanooga for 22 points. His cluster of layups late in the second half kept the Bears in position to win.

Tre’ McLean: On a 15-point outing, he hurt the Bears from the inside and outside, draining a trio of 3-pointers.

Jaylen Stowe: He gave Mercer a big jolt coming off the bench, scoring seven points.

Desmond Ringer: Ringer had a strong all-around day with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Turning point

Coming off a Chattanooga free throw with 14 seconds to go and down 69-66, Mercer had a chance to tie the game. But a quick shot by Holland was blocked by McLean, and the Mocs took over possession and put the game away at the free-throw line.

Observations

Charity’s good: The Bears made their chances to tack on points from the free-throw line count, making 16-of-17.

A lead at the break, but: The Bears held a 38-34 halftime lead, but the advantage could have been bigger. Chattanooga closed the half on a quick 4-0 run, preventing Mercer from heading into halftime with an even bigger lead.

Tone-setters: The Bears showed early that they wouldn’t be rattled by the conference’s co-leader. After the Mocs opened the game on a 3-pointer by McClean, the Bears responded with jumpers by Ringer and Jordan Strawberry, followed by a Holland dunk, to lead 6-5. After a back and forth exchange of the lead, Rashad Lewis drained a 3-pointer for a 15-13 Mercer lead with a little less than 12 minutes left in the first half. Mercer led the rest of the half, leading by as many as eight points. Chattanooga didn’t lead until Johnathan Burroughs-Cook’s score and foul shot gave the Mocs a 43-41 lead with 13:20 left in the game.

Cold on both sides: Mercer fans likely will point to a span of more than two minutes as a missed chance. The Bears trailed 59-56 with 6:50 to play but failed to take advantage of an offensive slump by both teams as neither side scored a point until a layup by Holland trimmed the Chattanooga lead to 59-58 with 4:20 to play.

They said it

Holland on the close loss: “We were right there. I know, myself, I didn’t execute very well. I gave up a big offensive rebound with about one minute left in the game and then the last play, I didn’t execute what we talked about in the huddle. We were right there; we just have to get better.”

Holland on what happened on the missed shot with Mercer down by three points: “Jordan was actually supposed to have the ball, but off the free throw they got it to me. What happened, happened. That was my mess up on the last play.”

Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman on the team’s resilience: “They played really hard and gave unbelievable effort. I needed to help them find a way down the stretch to get one more play. They wanted to win and were destroyed, as they have been many times. They wanted to win and get it done and played against a really good team that knows what they are trying to accomplish on every possession, and we weren’t able to get it done at the end.”

Hoffman on what factored most into the loss: “We didn’t take care of the ball, we had some unforced turnovers that were big. We were getting a lot of easy shots in the first half, and they changed up defensive principles in the second half and we changed what we were trying to get on them. We were able to get Ria’n to the rim based on their defense and we needed to make one more play. Wednesday night we were able to make one more play, and (Saturday) you lose by two and feel completely different. You played the same and they gave the same effort, and that’s the hard thing for this team. We’ve had so many of those games so far, and we’ve won some of them and lost some of them. I hate it for them because they worked so hard to win this one.”

What’s next:

Mercer plays at UNC Greensboro on Thursday. Mercer’s next home game is Jan. 28 against The Citadel.

This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Mercer falls to Chattanooga in another close loss."