ASHEVILLE, N.C. –
Nicholas Robinson recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, but Western Carolina was unable to overcome a cold-shooting start to both halves in an 81-53 loss to Mercer Friday night in the first round of the 2022 Ingles Southern Conference Tournament held at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.
In addition to Robinson,
Cam Bacote &
Vonterius Woolbright finished in double figures with 11 points followed by
Joe Petrakis with 10 points. Bacote also dished out a game-high five assists.
Kamar Robertson recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. James Glisson III had 13 points with Jalen Johnson (11) and Felipe Haase (10) also in double figures.
Mercer improves to 15-16 on the season and will face No. 2 seed Furman on Saturday at 6 p.m. WCU concludes the season – the first under head coach
Justin Gray – at 11-21.
The Bears scored the first five points of the game before Robinson was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made one free throw to get the Catamounts on the board at the 18:14 mark. The Bears took a 10-1 lead as Robertson completed a three-point play at the 17:42 mark but the Catamounts fought back and trimmed the deficit to 12-7 following a Robinson 3-pointer with 15:25 to play before the break. Mercer took advantage of a four-minute cold stretch by WCU during a 12-2 run that gave the Bears a 24-9 lead at the midpoint of the half.
A Tucker 3-pointer gave the Bears a 20-point lead, 29-9, with 7:09 remaining in the first. Following a 3-pointer by Jacksen Greco that gave Mercer a 38-14 lead, Robinson hit a jumper that sparked an 11-2 spurt capped by a Bacote 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 15, 40-25, with just 43 seconds left. However, an offensive rebound by Mercer led to a scramble 3-pointer by Robertson that beat the buzzer to send the Bears into halftime with a 43-25 advantage.
Bacote opened the second half scoring thanks to a 3-pointer 20 seconds into the frame, but the Bears responded with a 12-0 run to lead 58-30 after a Jones 3-pointer with just over 14 minutes left. WCU tallied nine straight points capped by a
Joe Petrakis 3-pointer with 9:54 left to make the score 58-39. The Catamounts would get no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.
Mercer finished 32-for-59 (54.2 percent) from the field, 11-for-20 (55 percent) behind the 3-point line, and 6-for-10 (60 percent) at the free throw line. The Catamounts were 20-for-59 (33.9 percent) from the field, 8-for-32 (25 percent) on 3-point attempts, and 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) at the free throw line.
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