Mercer rallies to knock off George Mason

Things didn't look good for the Bears midway through the second half, when they trailed by 11, but Mercer fought back for a 69-60 victory over George Mason on Monday night.

The Bears (2-0) trailed 46-35 but went on a 21-4 run to lead 56-50, only to see George Mason fight back to tie the score at 58.

But Jestin Lewis hit a huge 3-pointer off a rebound and kick-out from Desmond Ringer, and Stephon Jelks hit four straight free throws as the Bears finished with an 11-2 run to pull out the win.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Jelks: Playing with a banged-up shoulder, the sophomore finished with 16 points and three rebounds.

Demetre Rivers: The sophomore started in place of senior Jibri Bryan and had a solid game with 10 points and five rebounds. He hit two 3-pointers.

Phillip Leonard: The senior point guard showed strong leadership with 10 points, three assists and four rebounds.

WORTH MENTIONING

All tied up: Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman is now tied with Robert Wilder for second on Mercer's all-time wins list with 147 victories. Bill Bibb leads the way with 222.

They're called free for a reason: Mercer was strong from the free-throw line, hitting 19-of-21, and those came in handy as the Bears iced it from the line.

Balanced attack: Jelks, Leonard and Rivers all scored in double figures, but the Bears had five other players with at least six points. The Bears got 20 points off the bench.

Strong second half: Mercer struggled throughout the first half and trailed 28-26 at the break but scored 43 points in the second half.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Mercer hosts Alabama State at 7 p.m. on Thursday before heading to Davidson on Monday and then playing in the Challenge in Music City.

THEY SAID IT

Hoffman on Saturday's win: "It was fun to watch our guys find a way at the end collectively to get ti done. And they did it play after play, and they kept getting more and more energy when they kept making those plays together. As a coach, it doesn't get any better than that when you watch your guys excited for each other when they have those kind of possessions like they did."

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Mercer rallies to knock off George Mason ."