Mercer welcomes George Mason to Hawkins Arena

Mercer knows how it feels to be Cinderella for a day. George Mason knows how it feels to be Cinderella for two weeks.

The two NCAA tournament bracket-busters will square off Monday at Hawkins Arena, the second straight home game for the Bears after opening their season Friday in a 96-70 win over Allen.

George Mason, which made it to the Final Four of the 2006 NCAA tournament as an 11 seed, lost its first game 66-53 at home to Colgate, shooting only 33 percent from the field. Mercer, known for its upset of Duke in the 2014 NCAA tournament, held Allen to only 31 percent shooting in the opener

Senior guard Phillip Leonard, who registered 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the opener, said the Bears' defense needs to improve going forward.

"We need to talk more as a unit and be on a string more," he said. "I think that will help us in the future."

Even though Allen shot a poor percentage, it scored 21 points off 3-pointers and 23 off free throws. Freshman Ethan Stair, who scored 10 points on six shots in his debut, is focusing on defensive improvements, as well.

"Just communication -- just talking with the guys," he said. "Just getting back on transition (defense), being in the right spots and everything."

But because of rule changes this year, including the shot clock being trimmed from 35 to 30 seconds, head coach Bob Hoffman said he wants the team to play faster and expects more shots to be taken. The 96 points the Bears scored against Allen were the most in a game since Dec. 27, 2013, when Mercer routed St. Andrews 98-56.

Hoffman said high point totals could be a trend throughout the year. The next chance will be against George Mason and its first year head coach, Dave Paulsen. Hoffman knows the Patriots' head coach from Paulsen's time at Bucknell, where he was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year three times and reached the NCAA tournament twice.

"Coach Paulsen's an amazing coach," Hoffman said. "We were fortunate to beat him in the Providence tournament many years ago. But he's had tremendous teams.

"I think our guys will be excited about the game. If we can have a crowd like we had (Friday) -- students were fantastic and the community came out. Thirty-two hundred (people) on a football playoff, first home game, Friday night ... that's almost unheard of."

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Mercer welcomes George Mason to Hawkins Arena ."