Jestin Lewis, Mercer pull away from UNC Greensboro

Jestin Lewis' day just about epitomized the afternoon for the Mercer Bears on Saturday at Hawkins Arena against UNC Greensboro.

Lewis had just four points at the half but came alive in the second half to help Mercer pull away for an 81-67 win. The senior guard scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as Mercer outscored UNC Greensboro 46-36 after the break to remain undefeated at home (10-0).

The Bears improve to 16-6 overall and 6-3 in Southern Conference play, while the Spartans fall to 8-14 and 4-5.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Lewis: Lewis surpassed 20 points for the third straight game and added eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Desmond Ringer: The sophomore center finished with 16 points and four rebounds, hitting 6-of-9 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws.

Ethan Stair: The freshman came off the bench to score 12 points, hitting 5-of-7 shots and two 3-pointers.

TURNING POINT

Mercer led 35-31 at the half but only 43-42 early in the second half before going on an 18-6 run to gain control of the game and kept control the rest of the way.

OBSERVATIONS

Balanced attack: The Bears had six players with at least eight points, with Stephon Jelks adding nine and Phillip Leonard and Jordan Strawberry each scoring eight. The Bears had 23 bench points to just seven for the Spartans. Eight Bears players scored.

Controlling the paint: For the second straight home game, Mercer dominated in the paint, outscoring UNC Greensboro 32-16 inside.

Sharing the ball: Mercer had 21 assists on its 28 field goals, including nine from Leonard.

Strong from the free-throw line: Mercer made 15-of-18 attempts from the free-throw line.

WORTH MENTIONING

Another big crowd: After squeezing an arena-record 4,502 fans into Hawkins Arena against Wofford on Jan. 16, the Bears played in front of 4,032 on Saturday for the arena's second largest crowd.

THEY SAID IT

Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman on the win: "I thought (Saturday) our depth had a big impact on the game. And then we beat them in bench scoring. I think we had 23 points. When we can continue to do that, when we're playing back-to-back games as we were, and now we've got back-to-back-to-back, that just gives you energy, it gives you bounce in your step. And that's why our defense was so good in the second half. We probably played 10 minutes of the best man defense we have all year."

Lewis on the large and loud home crowd: "This crowd here has to be one of the best in the country. They definitely help us. I don't think it would be possible to win this many games and stay undefeated at home without those guys."

Ringer on the inside play: "The game plan was to get layups. We know we can get open shots, but Coach wanted us to pound the ball in the paint first and get layups, and if we didn't have open shots, then we could have kick-backs to get 3s."

WHAT'S NEXT?

Mercer heads out on the road Monday to face Samford.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Jestin Lewis, Mercer pull away from UNC Greensboro ."