Games 790-791: Saturday pair

791 - Bethune-Cookman at Jacksonville
December 7 at Swisher Gymnasium in Jacksonville, FL
espn3.com

The hosts led by 17 at the break and thanks to the trio of David Bell (22 and 15, 8-of-11 from the field), DeAnthony McCallum (13 and 11) and Destin Barnes (19 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting) had no trouble against their in-state rivals.

In an 82-60 loss, Bethune-Cookman got more scoring from its bench than it did its starters (33-27), which is almost never a good thing.

790 - Georgia State at Mercer
December 7 at Hawkins Arena in Macon, GA
ESPN+

Game 619 - Mercer at Georgia State

November 13 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA

A week ago, I watched Jeff Thomas set a career-high with 26 points in a season-opening win over East Tennessee State. Another Tuesday, another career-high for the senior.

Thomas was fantastic, scoring 30 points, including eight 3-pointers as GSU hung on for a 62-60 victory.

Thomas, who bounced back from a two-point game in a loss to Montana last Friday, needed to be that good because

1. No one else shot the ball particularly well (Thomas was 11-of-17 from the field and 8-of-13 from three, the rest of the team was just 12-of-37 and 7-of-22).
2. The Panthers' top three-point shooter, Devin Mitchell, is still out with a knee injury.
3. Mercer nearly erased a 19-point deficit and inexplicably had the last possession with a chance to win. The Bears missed a three with a couple seconds to play.

After a 2-1 first week of the season, things get tougher in a hurry for GSU. November 19, the Panthers play St. Bonaventure, a 26-win, NCAA team a year ago, in the Cayman Islands Classic. Either Boise State or Creighton follows a day later.

Games 463-464: A Thursday pair

464 - Kennesaw State at Mercer
December 28 at Hawkins Arena in Macon, GA
espn3.com

Mercer is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country and I saw why Thursday.

The Bears, sixth nationally coming into the night, hit 10-of-18 from behind the arc and used a dominant second half to roll to a 89-56 win.

It was a 38-31 lead for the hosts through 20 minutes, but a blistering shooting performance in the second half - 72% (!), including 7-of-11 shooting performance from three - allowed Mercer to pull away.

Ria'n Holland is a top-20 scorer nationally and was right around his average with 20 points. Holland and Jordan Strawberry (seven assists) are a pair of really good guards that should help Mercer stay at the top of the Southern Conference all year.

Mercer had 24 assists on 35 made baskets, led by Strawberry and Holland, who added five assists.

463 - NJIT at Buffalo
December 28 at Alumni Arena in Amherst, NY
espn3.com

Wes Clark was superb in the Bulls' 86-81, overtime victory.

Clark, a senior playing just his third game with Buffalo (he's a Missouri transfer who enrolled late and was finally eligible to play last Tuesday at Syracuse), had 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting, six assists, four steals and only one turnover in 37 minutes.

Clark scored 13 straight Buffalo points during a stretch in overtime, single-handedly turning a tie game into an 84-77 lead with about a half-minute to go.

Game 337 - (7) Wofford women vs. (2) Mercer

Southern quarterfinals
March 2 at US Cellular Center in Asheville, NC
espn3.com

The league's top offensive and defensive team rolled into the semifinals as KeKe Calloway's 20 bench points led Mercer to a 67-42 win.

Calloway, fellow reserve Alex Williams (14 points) and the excellent Sydni Means (13 points and nine assists) helped make up for an uncharacteristically off-game for two-time league player of the year Kahlia Lawrence, who was held to eight points on 4-of-12 shooting.

Meanwhile, the Bears defense was good once again (Wofford shot 31%), and the Macon, Georgia school is in the semis for the third time in as many seasons since joining the league.

Second-team all-conference guard Chloe Wanink led Wofford with 19 points on 18 shots, though she received little help as no other player scored more than seven.

Games 155-156 - NCAA bids

156
Big South championship
(4) NC Asheville vs. (2) Winthrop
March 6 at Gore Arena in Buies Creek, NC
ESPN
 
155
Southern championship
(2) Mercer women vs. (1) Chattanooga (2)
March 6 at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN
ESPN

Game 145 - (8) UNC Greensboro women vs. (1) Mercer

Southern Conference quarterfinals
March 3 at U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, NC
espn3.com

After an 11-0 run to start the game and a 21-16 lead after one quarter, UNC Greensboro looked ready to pull a huge upset.

But there's a reason the Spartans didn't win after December 31 and dropped their final 15 games as Mercer out-scored the No. 8 seed 24-4 in the second and cruised to a 75-53 victory.

A handful of reasons why Mercer, trying to win a conference title for the first time since 1992, rolled into the semis:

* The Bears' bench out-scored UNCG's 36-3.
* Sydni Means was outstanding for the Bears, providing 10 points, eight assists and six steals.
* Lucy Mason led the league in scoring during the regular season and is UNCG's all-time leading scorer, but the senior guard was held to 13 points on just 4-of-12 shooting.
* Kahlia Lawrence, who was second in scoring, was held to nine points on 3-of-13 shooting, yet the Bears still won by 22.

Scoochie Smith All Stars

We finish up with a pair of new all stars in Shon Kitchens from Mercer and UNCG's Jazmine Missouri.