Mercer suffers fourth straight loss, loses at home

Things started so well for Mercer on Thursday against Western Carolina as the Bears hit six of their first nine shots from the floor.

But from there, the Bears struggled and the Catamounts controlled the action and pulled out a 72-65 Southern Conference win at Hawkins Arena. After the strong start, Mercer hit just 15-of-41 shots, and the Catamounts really took over in the second half. After trailing by one at the half, Western Carolina had a 39-31 advantage in the second half.

Mercer drops to 18-10 overall and 8-7 in the conference with its fourth straight loss, while Western Carolina improves to 12-16 and 7-8.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Stephon Jelks: Playing through an illness, Jelks had a solid game with 17 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots.

Phillip Leonard: The senior point guard had 13 points and seven assists with no turnovers.

Demetre Rivers: The sophomore guard had a game-high 19 points and hit three 3-pointers.

TURNING POINT

Trailing by one at the break, the Catamounts suffered a bit of a blow less than a minute into the second half when senior Mike Brown picked up his fourth foul. The Catamounts, however, responded and pulled away.

OBSERVATIONS

Strong bench play: Western Carolina had a 20-6 advantage in bench points.

More balanced needed: Jelks, Leonard and Rivers combined to shoot 16-of-29 while the rest of the Bears were 5-of-21.

Home dominance slowed: After winning its first 11 home games, Mercer has lost its past two home games.

WORTH MENTIONING

Playing shorthanded: Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman said it's not likely that suspended starters Jestin Lewis and Desmond Ringer would return. Lewis and Ringer did not travel with the team to Wofford and Furman last week. They were not on the bench Thursday as they were for the first two games of their suspension.

Wrong kind of streak: Mercer has lost four straight for the first time since suffering two four-game losing streaks early in the 2010-11 season.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Mercer hosts East Tennessee State on Saturday.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Mercer suffers fourth straight loss, loses at home ."