Asheville, N.C. – Ice Emery erupted for 20 points to lead three Catamounts in double figures on Friday but his would-be game-winning field goal attempt at the final buzzer just missed as eighth-seeded Mercer survived the quarterfinal matchup with No. 9 Western Carolina 67-66 in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville.
 
Mercer's Alex Holt converted a dish from Ahmad Robinson for the go-ahead bucket with 4.6 seconds remaining in regulation for two of his game-high 24 points to put the Bears ahead by one. On the ensuing possession, Emery took the inbounds pass and raced into the frontcourt where his pull-up jumper at the final horn fell off the front of the rim.
 
Mercer (14-18) advances to face top-seeded Chattanooga (23-8) Saturday at Noon in the first of four semifinal round games. Western Carolina's season closes at 8-22 overall.
 
"I loved the way our guys battled to get back in the game and take the lead. We had some different guys step up to help us do that," said WCU head coach Tim Craft during his postgame press conference. "Hats off to Mercer. (Ahmad) Robinson and (Alex) Holt were terrific for the whole game. Robinson just did a great job of controlling the pace and scoring or dumping it off to Holt for layups – and that's what it ended up being at the end. We just struggled to guard (Robinson) throughout the night."
 
Emery knocked down five 3-pointers to lead the Catamounts with 20 points while senior Bernard Pelote recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds despite being limited in the first half by foul trouble. It was Emery's third 20-point scoring effort of the season and first against a SoCon opponent. Pelote tallied his sixth double-double effort of the year.
 
Marcus Kell scored 10 and chipped in seven rebounds, while Chase McKey was clutch for the Catamounts early, finishing 4-of-5 from the field with nine points. Vernon Collins scored six and dished out a team-best five assists, one ahead of CJ Hyland with four helpers.
 
Holt and Robinson combined for 47 of Mercer's 67 points, scoring 24 and 23, respectively. The latter just missed a triple-double with a team-best nine rebounds and eight assists. Tyler Johnson chipped in eight points for the Bears.
 
McKey scored seven of WCU's first nine points as the Catamounts claimed an early three-point edge, 9-6, five minutes into Friday's quarterfinal as scoring came slow in the first of two men's games to cap the second day of play in Asheville. The Bears then used a 13-to-4 run over the next 10 minutes to grab a half-high advantage of eight, 23-15, with five minutes remaining before the break.
 
Emery then knocked the ice off the arena rim, sinking WCU's first 3-pointer on the squad's 14th attempt to start the Catamount climb back before intermission. Down seven, Cord Stansberry buried a 3-pointer with 71 seconds remaining in the frame before Kell sank a line-drive triple and added a free throw to knot the game at 29 apiece, sending teams to the locker rooms even after 20 minutes.
 
Neither team gained a sizeable advantage over the opening minutes of the second half. Emery hit a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game in favor of Mercer at the 16:22 mark before consecutive buckets by the Bears, including a Brady Shoulders trey that pushed Mercer's lead to seven at the 14:14 mark. WCU managed to whittle the deficit back to a one-possession game on three occasions before the Bears led by six, 50-44 midway through the second half.
 
The Catamounts scored eight of the next 10 points, including five by Emery with Vernon Collins converting an Emery theft into a game-tying two-handed slam with 8:41 remaining in regulation. Mercer then managed the game's next five points with three from the free throw line to retake a five-point edge. But back-to-back 3-pointers by Emery and Pelote propelled the Catamounts to the lead with 6:44 remaining. A free throw by Kell and a clutch jumper made by Pelote gave WCU a four-point edge just over a minute later.
 
The game saw three ties inside the final four minutes with WCU easing in front on the second of two Pelote free throws inside the final minute. Robinson looked to answer for Mercer but clanged a 3-pointer with Pelote grabbing the rebound with an outlet to Kell who was fouled. Barely into the bonus in the closing stages of the game, Kell missed the frontend of a 1-and-1 with Mercer gathering the miss.
 
On the ensuing possession, Robinson missed a shot in the paint with the rebound bouncing between multiple players before Johnson ultimately ended up with the ball with 11 seconds remaining. Both teams used timeouts before Mercer inbounded the ball near midcourt where Robinson drove to the basket, drawing the Catamount defense before dropping a pass to Holt who converted the contested go-ahead bucket with 4.6 seconds remaining.
 
Emery then streaked up the floor looking for the game-winner with the final shot attempt just missing.
 
After a sluggish start, the Catamounts managed to nail eight 3-pointers (8-of-29) with the Bears connecting on just two (2-of-20). Mercer outrebounded WCU 41-to-35 and outscored the Catamounts 36-26 in the paint.
 
But the biggest disparity came from the charity stripe as Mercer got into the second-half bonus midway through the final frame. The Bears matched a season-high with 21 made free throws – also connecting on 21 in the road loss to the Catamounts in Cullowhee back in January – on 84-percent shooting (21-of-25) compared to 10-of-17 (58.8%) shooting from the line by Western Carolina. Mercer's 84% was its best against a SoCon opponent this season as the Bears entered shooting around 65% from the line during the regular season.
 
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