Mercer men’s basketball shows fight in the second half against Georgia State

The Mercer men’s basketball team came up short against Georgia State on Saturday. The Panthers took home the victory in the in-state game, 73-61

The Bears got off to a slow start as they shot below 20 percent for the first half. The Bears trailed 31-18 at the half.

The defense kept them in it as it held Georgia State below its season average and allowed Mercer to hang around heading into the second half.

The Bears offense finally got going after the break and cut the lead to single digits on multiple occasions. A big part of that was Victor Baffuto. He scored all 14 of his points after the break.

Mercer got 39 of its 43 second-half points from Ethan Stair, Djordje Dimitrijevic and Baffuto.

However, Georgia State staved off the rally behind a big performance from Damon Wilson, who scored a game-high 16 points. He also tied for the team lead with five rebounds.

The loss is Mercer’s fourth in a row. The Bears are4-6 on the season.

Here are three takeaways from Mercer’s loss to Georgia State.

Bears must cut down on the turnovers

Mercer finished with 18 turnovers. This was one of the biggest differences in the game as Georgia State took advantage with 12 points off of turnovers. Each time it looked as though the Bears were poised to make a run the turnovers would pop up.

The Bears had four turnovers in a five-minute span in the second half when they had cut the lead to single digits. If the Bears can clean up the turnovers they will win some of these close games. Mercer head coach Greg Gary said he was impressed with how hard his team continued to fight throughout the game.

“We got in a hole and kept fighting,” Gary said. “I thought in the second half we came out and did better offensively and just showed some fight. I was proud of that.”

Mercer must find a consistent scorer alongside Stair and Dimitrijevic

This duo is averaging nearly 35 points per game but the Bears have been unable to get another option going on a consistent basis. Center Victor Baffuto scored a career-high against Georgia State but he tends to be more reliable for blocks and rebounds.

“I just told them that in the locker room, I said we are relying too much on Ethan and Djordje,” Gary said. “We have to get some consistency from our bench.”

Ross Cummings, the leading scorer from last year has missed most of the season with an injury. Gary said there was no update on his status.

Mercer gets much-needed break

The Bears played three games last week but will now be off until Dec. 16 when they travel to UNC Wilmington. This will give them a chance to get guys like Cummings healthy but will also serve as a break for guys like Stair who played all 40 minutes against Georgia State.

“I think for them it will be a good period to get them recharged,” Gary said. “It definitely helps. We have got some practice days now. I have talked about we just have to pay attention to detail more.”