Mercer men play strong in conference opener

The Mercer men's basketball team opened the new year and Southern Conference play with a display of solid all-around basketball Saturday afternoon in a 69-50 victory over Samford before an announced crowd of 3,715 at Hawkins Arena.

The Bears (11-3, 1-0 conference) shot well (43.6 percent), stymied the Bulldogs (9-5, 0-1) by switching defenses and owned the ­backboards (39-25). Mercer also took care of the ball (10 turnovers) in the face of full-court pressure the entire game, and made the most of the dozen turnovers -- seven off steals -- it forced by scoring 17 points after Samford miscues.

Samford managed to hit just 32.7 percent of its shots for the game. The Bulldogs connected on just 22.7 percent in the first half when the Bears took a 36-15 lead at intermission and were never threatened after.

FOUR WHO MATTERED

Phillip Leonard: The senior point guard led Mercer with 15 points while adding a game-high five assists with five rebounds and two steals.

Stephon Jelks: The sophomore forward had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds -- four off the offensive boards -- for Mercer.

Jamal Shabazz and Christen Cunningham: The two led Samford with 15 points to tie Leonard with the game-high point total. Shabazz, a senior forward, had nine of his total on a trio of 3-pointers, while Cunningham, a sophomore point guard, had a 3-pointer and a pair of three-point plays among his total.

TURNING POINT

Mercer scored 17 straight points in a span of six minutes, 17 seconds in the first half. After Marcus Johnson scored his only basket of the game to get the visitors within 12-10, the Bears pulled away for good.

Ethan Stair came off the bench to contribute three baskets, while Leonard and Demetre Rivers had two each to comprise the surge. Rivers, who finished with 11 points, capped the run with consecutive 3-pointers for a 29-11 cushion before Shabazz snapped the spurt with a pair of foul shots with 5:19 remaining in the half.

During the Mercer surge, the Bulldogs missed 10 straight shots and suffered three turnovers. Mercer built the lead to as many as 23 points in the second half, and Samford never got closer than 15 after that.

OBSERVATIONS

Switching defenses: Mercer opened in a man-to-man defense but used a combination of zones throughout the game to help stymie the Bulldogs. Pretty much pushed to the perimeter, Samford managed just three second-chance points as Mercer held a 39-25 rebounding edge.

Handling the pressure: Samford started its defensive pressure in the backcourt the entire game, but the Bears were unfazed. Mercer suffered just 10 turnovers for the game, which led to only eight points by the Bulldogs.

WORTH MENTIONING

Quick spark: Jordan Strawberry entered the game after a TV timeout with 15:40 left in the first half and the Bears trailing 6-5. The sophomore point guard, who finished with nine points, promptly hit a 3-pointer on the way to scoring Mercer's next seven points to give the Bears the lead for good and set the stage for the key surge just minutes later that broke the game open.

Spurt stoppers: Samford managed to score consecutive points in the game only four times, and two of those came in the game's first nine minutes. The Bulldogs weren't able to score more than six points before the Bears answered, and that one occasion came with Mercer holding its largest lead of the game at 45-22 with 15:58 remaining.

Helping hands: Mercer had 24 field goals, and 15 came off assists. Rivers followed Leonard with four assists.

THEY SAID IT

Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman: "(Samford) has great schemes in what they were trying to do (offensively), and we able to just take away a few of them. We were fortunate enough to get off a really good start, and that was the difference in the game. It was a fun win in a great environment. There were no students here, but it was still unbelievable."

Hoffman on sharing the ball and handling Samford's pressure: "The most important thing about this game was we had 15 assists and only 10 turnovers and they pressed us the whole game. When you only have 10 turnovers against team that every minute is trying to trap you means your guys are listening and paying attention to the details of what it takes to break the press."

Samford head coach Scott Padgett: "I thought we were doing a good job of getting inside their zone and we were getting some open looks, but we just weren't able to knock them down. ... In the second half, it at least seemed as if we were competing. The ball still wasn't falling through the hole like we're used to, but I thought we competed well. ... If we would've given the same effort throughout the first half, then it could've been a totally different game."

Leonard: "We were ready to play from the start. We talked about how much defense was going to make a difference. We mixed in some zone with the man, and it had them guessing a little. We were able to feed off that to get the offense started."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Both teams play their next games at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Mercer is at Chattanooga, while Samford hosts The Citadel.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Mercer men play strong in conference opener ."