Nwamu lifts Mercer over Stony Brook

Bob Hoffman mixed and matched his lineups like a mad scientist throughout Wednesday night’s College Basketball Invitational opener against Stony Brook.

In the end, the winning formula was simple -- get the ball to Ike Nwamu and get out of the way.

After struggling with his shot for most of the game, Nwamu took over down the stretch and rattled home the game-winning shot as the ball bounced on the rim a few times before going through with 1.2 seconds remaining to lift the Bears to a 72-70 victory.

“My teammates just kept telling me to keep shooting and keep shooting, and it was going to come to me,” Nwamu said. “We all work so hard on our games, so we have the utmost confidence in ourselves, so they just told me to keep shooting and keep being aggressive, and they’d start going down.”

Nwamu made one of his first 10 shots and missed his first six 3-point shots. But he took over down the stretch, scoring 14 of the Bears’ final 16 points to finish up with 25.

Nwamu ended up making 8-of-19 from the floor, 3-of-9 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, and he added six assists.

“It was really just taking what the defense gave us,” Nwamu said. “My teammates did a great job of believing me and getting me the ball, and I have to thank them for that. The coaches were just telling me to get good looks, and I was able to do that.”

Senior T.J. Hallice’s career will be extended at least one more game as he finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Jestin Lewis scored 12 and had seven rebounds as he started for injured freshman Stephon Jelks, and the Bears also played without senior Darious Moten.

Jibri Bryan added seven points, while Matt Panaggio had six on his first two 3-pointers of the season.

Mercer also got strong minutes off the bench from Jordan Strawberry, Lawrence Brown and Niklas Ney.

“It was an amazing effort against a great team, a well-coached team. That was a championship-level game,” Hoffman said. “Our guys rose to the occasion and found ways to make plays together, and when you do that, you get energy from each other, and you make plays you haven’t made all year. It’s just fun to see them enjoy the fruits of their labor.”

Mercer has now won at least one game the past four years in the CollegeInsider.com tournament, the NIT, the NCAA and the CBI. The Bears advance to the quarterfinals and will host Louisiana-Monroe, a 71-67 winner over Eastern Michigan, at 7 p.m. on Monday.

“Ike had it rolling, so I decided I was going to let him go,” Hoffman said of the final possession. “He has a good mid-range game, and the assistants have done a great job working with him on those shots. When it kept bouncing around, I just said, ‘Please Lord, please let it go in.’ I’m just so excited for our team. It was a big win, a great win.”

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Nwamu lifts Mercer over Stony Brook."