As the No. 1 overall seed in a tournament, you play each game with a target on your back, taking the best shot from each team you face. When Mercer took the court against No. 8 seed Western Carolina, most expected a Bears victory. But I’m not sure many expected a dominating victory like this one. The ...
For even the most casual of sports fans, March is a special month. College baseball is starting to heat up, professional baseball spring training is underway, and professional basketball is zeroing in on the playoffs. But above all else, March is known for one thing: college basketball’s March Madness. ...
The 2018-2019 regular season was a rollercoaster ride for the Mercer men's basketball team. A few near-upset wins at the beginning of the season, a handful of close losses to the Southern Conference’s top squads, a winning streak, and now, a rough loss at home in the regular season finale. The Bears ...
For the second consecutive season, the Mercer women’s basketball team has finished the season with an undefeated Southern Conference record. To do so once is an extremely impressive accomplishment, but to do so twice can only be classified as one thing -- special. Their final win wasn’t handed ...
Mercer men’s basketball entered Thursday’s matchup with the Keydets of Virginia MIlitary Institute (9-20, 3-14 SoCon) riding a two game winning streak. All signs pointed to the Bears having finally found their rhythm and identity. Well, the Bears (11-18, 6-11 SoCon) didn’t look like the same ...
Mercer women’s basketball vs Furman -- a matchup of the top two teams in the Southern Conference. Also, a potential preview of the 2019 SoCon Championship that will take place in just over a week. The Bears got out to a hot start by playing stifling defense and getting out in transition. They led ...
What better way to follow up Valentine’s Day than with the return of college baseball? Feb. 15 saw the Mercer Bears baseball team return to action, hosting the Purple Aces of Evansville. The two schools played a three-game series at OrthoGeorgia Park, with the Bears taking the first two of three ...
As the 2019 Mercer lacrosse season gets underway, all eyes seem to be on junior defenseman Michael O’Brien. O’Brien was honored this pre-season with his selected to the Preseason All-Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Team. The honor is not the first of his career. According to O’Brien, it’s ...
In sports, there’s nothing quite like a good comeback story. Take, for example, Mercer softball player Danielle Castleberry. After starting all but six games for the Bears as a freshman, Castleberry was sidelined for the entire 2018 season due to injury. “Every day felt really long, but looking ...
It wasn’t pretty, and it definitely wasn’t easy, but Mercer women’s basketball found a way to keep their winning streak alive. Conference road games are always tough to win, but when you shoot just 39-percent from the floor, get out-rebounded and you only make one 3-pointer -- on paper, it can ...
That’s what Mercer secured in Saturday’s game against Chattanooga, giving the Bears two straight wins as the season began to wind down. It didn’t look promising early for the Bears, as it was Chattanooga (12-17, 7-9 SoCon) who led for most of the first half and entered halftime up 42-34. The ...
The Bears traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee for a matchup with East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Thursday, the first of two straight road games. Mercer got out ahead of the Bucs early thanks to fast starts from starters Amanda Thompson and Shannon Titus. At the end of the opening quarter, the Bears ...
Mercer needed a victory. And they needed it bad. Coming off a 19-point thrashing at the hands of East Tennessee State, the Bears were reeling and in desperate need of a win to get them back on track. They got that win. But it wasn’t easy -- at all. The Bears came out firing on all cylinders, and ...
It’s been a rollercoaster ride of a season for Mercer men’s basketball and it continued on Saturday afternoon. The Bears have competed start to finish with all of their SoCon competition this season, but Saturday was different. Saturday wasn’t close at all. East Tennessee State was the superior ...
After nearly every win this season, Mercer Head Coach Susie Gardner has mentioned that her team has yet to play a complete game this year. She’s been right. On many occasions, Mercer has played a great first half only to slip up in the second half and allow teams to get back into games. Saturday's ...
The Mercer men’s basketball team was in unfamiliar territory for Valentine’s Day this year as the Bears found themselves in Cullowhee, North Carolina for a date with the Western Carolina Catamounts. After their last game, Mercer Head Coach Bob Hoffman was asked about potential changes to the Bears ...
Thursday night was Valentine's Day, and the Mercer Bears had a date with the Spartans of UNC-Greensboro. The long story short? It didn’t exactly work out, and the feeling was pretty mutual. The Bears (17-7, 9-0) and Spartans traded blows from the game’s opening tip, but it was UNCG who got up ...
Mercer softball is looking to build on last season’s success after being picked to finish second in the Southern Conference preseason poll. Last season, the Bears won 33 games, including a win over the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. They were able to finish second in the SoCon regular season standings. “Our ...
Fans of Mercer basketball will recognize Ethan Stair as one of the team’s key contributors this season. After battling a variety of injuries the past two years, Stair has started every game for the Bears this year and is averaging 11.1 points per game. Fans may not know, however, that Ethan’s ...
This past offseason has been a busy time for both the women’s and men’s lacrosse teams. Each team has been working tirelessly to improve themselves after a fall season that saw Mercer’s women’s team 9-11 and the men go 4-10, respectively. As SoCon play approaches once again, each team is focused ...
Solutions by The State News