Mercer looks to keep momentum going
Just three weeks ago, the schedule looked daunting, and the path to a winning season appeared to be treacherous.
But back-to-back wins over Chattanooga, which was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time, and Furman, on the road, have the Mercer Bears on the doorstep of a second straight six-win season. Standing in the way is Samford, which is coached by Macon native Chris Hatcher, in the season finale for both teams Saturday at Five Star Stadium.
Both teams are 5-5 overall and 2-4 in Southern Conference play, putting a winning season on the line for the Bears and the Bulldogs.
"Three weeks ago, you're looking at the schedule. You've got Chattanooga, you've got Furman, and then you've got Samford, and you really don't know what's going to happen," Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb said. "Certainly, you would have loved to have two out of those three at the end, and now we're sitting here with a chance to win three out of three, and that's something that's important.
"It's important to win the third game in November to keep your momentum going into recruiting. And it's always important to win Saturday because it puts you at 6-5 and puts you in a winning record, which is always the key."
If the Bears can pull off the three-game winning streak, it would mark a strong finish to the season, which was needed after so many close losses. Mercer's five losses, including four in conference play by a total of 13 points, have all come by single digits.
Mercer finished with 10 wins in 2013 and six wins last year.
"I think our program is going in the right direction. You look at this past year, and we're going to go, 'What if?' But you can't say, 'What if?' because it's already been done," Lamb said. "The bottom line is we've just got to move forward, and this is a huge week to prepare and get ready for Samford just like we've done for the rest of the 10 weeks that we've played somebody. I think our kids will be focused and ready to play and send these seniors out on top."
Hatcher, a Mount de Sales product, is looking for a similar finish for his team in his first season with the program. After a three-game losing streak, the Bulldogs have rebounded with wins over Clark Atlanta and Wofford.
"Coach Lamb has got the guys playing extremely hard, and after their win over Chattanooga and their win over Furman, I'm sure they're playing with a lot of confidence right now," Hatcher said. "After evaluating all the games, we won one earlier in the year that we shouldn't have won. And then we got beat in a game that we shouldn't have gotten beat this year.
"So the record, it always is what it is. But we've gotten beaten by teams that I thought were better than us, and this is a game on film, it looks like two evenly matched teams."