Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mercer downs Razorbacks
Putback with 12 seconds left helps Bears to 69-66 win in overtime.
Add another upset victory over a Power Five conference opponent to Mercer’s resume.
The Bears beat Arkansas 69-66 in overtime Saturday night before an announced crowd of 9,470 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, giving the Southern Conference team from Macon, Ga., its eight victory over a Power Five opponent in Coach Bob Hoffman’s eight seasons.
Mercer’s last upset of a Power Five team was in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Bears also have beaten Alabama (twice), Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Florida State under Hoffman.
“It was just a huge accomplishment for our team, our program, our university,” Hoffman said of beating Arkansas. “We’re blessed that we’ve been able to do that a few times.
“It was fun to get another one.”
Mercer (9-2) took the lead for good in overtime 65-63 on 6-8 sophomore forward Demetre Rivers’ tip-in basket with 12.2 seconds left.
Rivers’ go-ahead basket was the Bears’ fourth shot on that possession. He put back his own miss after misses by Jestin Lewis and Stephon Jelks.
“It wasn’t one those beautiful games,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “It was a game of grinding, and the last grind they got was that stickback in overtime. That was really big.”
Lewis, a 6-1 senior guard, led Mercer with 21 points after scoring 28 points in the Bears’ 78-71 loss at Auburn Tuesday night.
“This win means a lot,” Lewis said. “We play with big hearts and we play together.”
Arkansas had a chance to take the lead after Rivers’ basket, but Dusty Hannahs missed a three-point attempt with six seconds left in overtime.
“Dusty got a nice look at the basket there,” Anderson said. “He was wide open.”
Moses Kingsley led Arkansas (5-5) with 18 points and 14 rebounds, but the 6-10 junior couldn’t grab the ball on the
decisive possession when the Bears got four shots.
During overtime the Razorbacks went with Kingsley and four guards.
“We’ve got to do a better job of getting a rebound,” Kingsley said. “We had smaller guys, but we’ve got to box out and get it.
“That was the game-winning play. We’ve got to do a better job next time on that.”
Senior guard Anthlon Bell scored 16 points for the Razorbacks and Hannahs scored 10.
Jelks, a 6-6 sophomore forward, had 20 points and 15 rebounds. Rivers had 15 points. Lewis had nine rebounds.
“Credit them,” Bell said. “They came ready to play.”
Jelks was fouled with 3.8 seconds left in overtime and hit two free throws to put the Bears ahead 67-63.
Arkansas sophomore guard Anton Beard hit a three- pointer with fourtenths of a second left to make it 67-66.
Jelks was fouled again and hit two free throws for the final margin.
“We were fortunate to find a way to finish,” Hoffman said. “Our guys worked their tails off to get this one.”
The game was tied 6363 with 1:24 left in overtime when Mercer senior guard Phillip Leonard missed two free throws.
Rivers missed on a putback attempt for the Bears and was called for fouling Beard, who then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 chance.
Jelks missed a three-point attempt with 1: 09 left, but the Bears got the ball back when Lewis stole it from the Hannahs, setting up the game-winning possession.
“We had our opportunities,” Anderson said. “Every time it seemed like they needed a play, they made one.
“I’m disappointed, but I thought our guys gave it everything they had.”
Arkansas guard Jabril Durham blocked a shot by Leonard with three seconds left in regulation and neither team could control the loose ball as the game went into overtime.
The Razorbacks tied it 54-54 with 18 seconds left in regulation on a driving basket by Hannahs after Lewis hit a 15-foot shot to give the Bears a 54-52 lead with 40.5 seconds left.
Mercer outscored Arkansas 19-0 over a 5:25 span, including nine points by Jelks, to take a 41-28 lead with 9:34 left.
Arkansas missed eight consecutive shots during the Bears’ run before Hannahs hit a three-point basket with 9:11 left to end the Razorbacks scoreless streak that lasted 7:23.
The Razorbacks then forced back-to-back turnovers as Bell got a layup and Hannahs hit another three-pointer to cut the Bears’ lead to 41-36.
Jestin Lewis’ three-point put Mercer ahead 44-36.
Arkansas then got five consecutive points from Kingsley, including a threepoint play that tied it 46-46.
After a Mercer miss, Bell hit two free throws to put the Razorbacks ahead 48-46 with 3:55 left.
The Bears led 19-17 at halftime.
“In the first half I didn’t see the energy,” Anderson said. “Was that because we hadn’t played in a whole week? There could be something to that.
“But we’ve got to gain the experience of understanding that every game — no matter who we play — is going to be a big game.”