The #3-seeded Mercer Bears used a 26-4 first half run to break open the game and went on to an 89-61 win over the #6-seeded VMI Keydets Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by General Shale at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, N.C. With the loss, VMI’s season ends with an 11-19 record, while Mercer advances to play #10 Furman in the tournament semifinals Sunday night at 8:30 p.m.
T.J. Hallice led Mercer with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds, while Ike Nwamu added 19 points and four rebounds. Jibri Bryan added 14 points, while Stephon Jelks added 12 and tied a team-high with nine rebounds. The Bears shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the game, including 58.1 percent in the second half.
VMI was led by sophomore Julian Eleby with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and a team-high-tying three assists, while Tim Marshall and Brian Brown each also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Keydets shot 51.7 percent in the second half and recorded six blocks in the contest.
VMI grabbed the early 5-0 lead, before the Bears used an 11-0 run over 3:35 to take the 11-5 lead. Mercer also ramped up the defensive pressure, holding VMI without a basket for over five minutes, before a layup by Eleby ended the Keydet drought and cut the lead to four. Back-to-back threes on the other end opened up a ten-point Mercer lead heading into the under-12:00 media time out.
After the timeout, Mercer used another run, this one of 6-0, to push its lead to 23-9 and force VMI to call its first timeout of the half. The Bears continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal, pushing the lead to 26-9, before a layup by Eleby ended VMI’s nearly four-minute scoring drought and cut the lead to 26-11 heading into the under-8:00 timeout.
VMI went another three minutes without a field goal, before a three by Eleby cut the Mercer lead in half at 30-15, before the teams traded baskets heading into the under four-minute timeout. The Keydets couldn’t cut into the lead anymore before the half, however, and Mercer scored the final nine points of the half to take a 42-20 lead into the locker room.
Mercer kept up the pressure out of halftime, eight of the game’s next nine points to take a 50-21 lead, before a 7-0 run by VMI cut the lead to 50-28 heading into the under-16:00 media timeout. Out of the timeout, the teams traded baskets before Mercer used another 10-5 run over the next 4:30 to push the lead to 62-35. The teams continued to trade baskets until an alley-oop dunk followed by two free throws pushed Mercer’s lead back to its widest margin at 29.
A layup by VMI cut the lead to 27, but a three by Nwamu then opened up the 75-45 advantage for Mercer with 5:54 remaining. The teams then traded baskets for the remainder of the game, with the Bears claiming the 89-61 quarterfinal win.
Quotes – VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom
“The guys never quit and they kept battling and I was very proud of them. Credit Mercer. They did an unbelievable job guarding us. They out-toughed us and outplayed us for sure.”
“I hated the way the seniors went out after all they had given us this year.”
“You always want to win more than 11 games. But we had 19 guys on the roster and 15 different starting lineups. We played without a backcourt pretty much. But the job that Julian Eleby did was pretty amazing and Brian Brown filled in some. We got some help on the way and got some guys coming.”
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