Sophomores stepping up their game, key to Mercer's success

Entering this season, Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman said a key to his team's success would be the growth of last year's freshman class.

Those players must have been listening.

Three of those sophomores -- Stephon Jelks, Demetre Rivers and Jordan Strawberry -- have stepped into key roles, and the Bears are off to a strong start. Mercer (12-4 overall, 2-1 Southern Conference) looks to continue that strong play this week at home, hosting Furman on Thursday and Wofford on Saturday.

"Us three as sophomores, we've stepped it up, and we're not playing as underclassmen but playing as we belong, so we'll keep doing good," Jelks said.

All three have had a smooth transition into their sophomore campaigns.

Jelks, a member of the Southern Conference's all-freshman team last year, has started all 16 games. He had 24 points and 17 rebounds Saturday against The Citadel and is averaging 12.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

Last year, Jelks averaged 12.8 minutes, 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds.

He has filled a void inside after the departures of Darious Moten and T.J. Hallice and a scoring void after the transfer of Ike Nwamu to UNLV.

"I feel like it's a great opportunity for me," Jelks said. "My teammates believe in me, and when they believe in me, it makes me go harder, and it makes them push them to be better. I've taken that role pretty good so far and hope to keep doing it.

"Darious and Ike and T.J. leaving means somebody had to step up, and we have in the point guard position, and we also needed it in the bigs position."

Strawberry, a backup point guard, averaged 14.7 minutes and 4.3 points last year. He is averaging 7.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists this season and had 24 points last week against Chattanooga and 19 against The Citadel.

Rivers played only 2.0 minutes per game last year and scored six total points. He is averaging 9.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 15 starts, taking over for senior Jibri Bryan, who has been battling a knee injury all season.

Throw in Desmond Ringer, who is averaging 6.9 points and 5.2 rebounds in 16 starts after transferring from South Carolina and sitting out last year, and returnees Niklas Ney and Tyre Moore, and the sophomore class has had a big impact on the Bears.

"It's definitely exciting. It's a fun experience," Rivers said. "It's kind of sad that Jibri had to go down, but I was willing to try to step up my game. Just working out, working out every day with the coaches. I stayed here both summer sessions and got extra work in.

"Just do what it takes to try to get wins. Our goal is to win that ring."

The Bears' chase of that ring continues this week against the Paladins (9-8, 3-1) and Terriers (6-10, 3-1). Furman beat Mercer in the Southern Conference tournament semifinals last year before losing to Wofford in the title game.

"Ever since that in the offseason, we've been working really hard because we know we were supposed to be in the championship game and win the SoCon championship, and we just fell short," Jelks said. "Coming back, bouncing back it's a lot of motivation for us."

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Sophomores stepping up their game, key to Mercer's success ."