Mercer men's basketball rolls to win over Alabama State
Mercer pulled away for a 70-49 win Thursday over Alabama State, using a strong first-half run to secure the win at Hawkins Arena.
It was the second straight game in which Mercer pulled away from its opponent at the end of a half.
In its 69-60 win over George Mason on Monday, the Mercer men's basketball team utilized a 20-point advantage in the final 12 minutes of the second half. Against Alabama State, the Bears dominated the final stretch of the first half, using a 32-8 advantage in the final 15 minutes before the break.
The Hornets struggled to find the basket in the first half as they made only five shots, four of which were 3-pointers, en route to 16 first-half points. The Bears registered nine more made field goals, as they shot 53.8 percent compared to only 18.5 percent for Alabama State.
The Hornets scored more than twice as many points in the second half -- 33 -- but that scoring was not enough to make up for the halftime deficit as the Bears also tacked on 33 points to their first-half total.
THREE WHO MATTERED
Phillip Leonard: The Bears' senior guard registered another solid overall performance with 14 points, seven assists and three rebounds. He's currently leading the team with 13.7 points per game.
Stephon Jelks: The Mercer sophomore snatched a career-high 16 rebounds -- 10 of which were in the first half -- to go along with 10 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line.
Demetre Rivers: In only his second start for Mercer after scoring 10 points Monday, Rivers added 10 more Thursday as he spread the floor with two 3-pointers, as well.
OBSERVATIONS
Going back to man: After the Bears switched to a zone defense that spurned their 21-4 run in the second half of a 69-60 victory against George Mason on Monday, Mercer went back to its usual man defense. It worked well, too, as the Hornets shot only 31 percent in the game.
Hungry on the glass: The Bears clawed their way to a 26-10 rebounding advantage in the first half as Jelks had the same amount of rebounds as the entire Alabama State team. Mercer finished with a 49-23 advantage on the boards as five Bears players had more rebounds than the Hornets' leading rebounder.
Equal distribution of scoring: Six players finished with more than nine points for the Bears -- Leonard with 14, Ethan Stair added 12, Jelks and Rivers had 10, and Desmond Ringer and Jordan Strawberry had nine each.
WORTH MENTIONING
History for Hoffman: With the victory, head coach Bob Hoffman registered his 148th win at Mercer and moved into second place all-time on the program's wins list, passing Robert Wilder.
Notable absence for Mercer: Senior forward Jibri Bryan missed his second straight game for the Bears because of a knee injury. His timetable is uncertain after having his knee scoped, but Hoffman said he would like to see him return after finals week and before conference play.
THEY SAID IT
Jelks on rebounding effort: "It's important, because that's my job on the team, is to rebound and bring energy to the team, so I feel like I did my job (Thursday) helping the team win. So it's a big accomplishment for me."
Hoffman on first-half play: "The main thing is our guys respected our opponent to a very high level. They knew they were good and (were) really ready. I think the Tuesday off helped us a little bit, too, because our legs were really good."
Hoffman on defense: "Our game plan was great on the defensive end, especially first half. ... When you can hold that good of offensive players to the points they had in the first half, that's the way we've been able to do it a few years ago, and if we can continue to get better at it, that will be significant as we get into conference play."
Hoffman on advantage in paint: "That's our plan this year. We think we can out-rebound everybody; we believe we can get in the lane on anybody, and if we can continue to get in the lane and get those shots and then find open threes -- those feel-good threes, those step-in threes, like practice threes -- those are the ones we want to take."
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Bears go on the road for the first time this year as they take on Davidson on Monday.
This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Mercer men's basketball rolls to win over Alabama State ."