Men’s basketball (10-7, 2-2 Southern Conference) held off Wofford College (11-6, 3-1 SoCon) on Saturday, winning 109-97 at home.
Both offenses soared in the high-scoring game, continuing a trend for the Bears, who are leading the conference in points per game with 84. The strong performance was buttressed by remarkably sharp shooting from deep by both teams. The Terriers went 16-of-32 and the Bears finished the game 12-of-19, combining for a 55% rate beyond the arc. It was the Bears’ fifth time surpassing 100 points in a game this season, including their prior game against The Citadel, against whom Mercer recorded 101 on 54% three-point shooting.
While Mercer led by 17 late in the first half, the visiting Terriers were pesky and kept the game within reach off of the play of guards Nils Machowski and Kahmare Holmes, who combined for 55 points and 13 rebounds. Machowski, whose 33 points led all scorers, shot 8-of-12 from deep.
With less than nine minutes left in the game, Wofford had cut Mercer’s lead down to 3 points and had the momentum to complete their comeback effort, but a turnover by Machowski and subsequent fast break layup from the Bears’ Kyle Cuffe Jr. ‘26 broke the Terriers’ rhythm. On the next play, Zaire Williams’ ‘26 good three-point attempt restored Mercer to a nine-point advantage.
In his third start this season, Cuffe poured in 19 points, including 12 in the first half. He went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, including two late free throws in the second half to extend the Bears’ lead. Baraka Okojie ‘27 led Mercer with 29 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Okojie shot 13-of-14 from the free throw line, and the team shot 87% from the line in the game, its second-highest rate of the season. Bendji Pierre ‘26 had a strong impact off the bench in the first half as he reeled off eight points in two minutes before finishing the game with 13 points in eight minutes of work.
The Bears were able to turn defense into offense against the Terriers, who have recorded the third-least turnovers per game in the SoCon. Mercer tallied 19 points off of 12 turnovers, including seven steals. Connor Serven ‘26 was also responsible for two blocks and six defensive rebounds.
The Bears will travel to Lexington, Va. on Thursday to take on the Virginia Military Institute (6-11, 1-3 SoCon), which is led by TJ Johnson. The 6-foot-7 forward’s 19 points per contest this season is second in the conference. The Keydets have beaten Mercer just twice since the 2019-20 season, but VMI returned much of its squad from last season, which beat the Bears in their most recent contest in February 2025.
Gabriel Kopp '26 is double majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as editor-in-chief. When he isn't completing a Washington Post crossword, he enjoys going for runs around Macon and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
