Mercer beat the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 85-80 on Saturday at McKenzie Arena, a potentially damaging blow to the Mocs' hopes for a favorable seed at next month's Southern Conference men's basketball tournament.
The loss puts the Mocs (17-12, 8-8) in danger of falling out of position for a top-six seed, which would relegate them to playing in a first-round game at the March 6-8 event in Asheville, North Carolina.
Mercer (15-14, 9-7), which was led by post Maciej Bender and guard Jeff Gary with 17 points each, earned a split of the regular-season series and moved a game ahead of the Mocs in the league standings.
UTC trailed by nine points at halftime, but Mercer big men Bender and Victor Bafutto each received his fourth foul in the first four minutes of the second half. The Mocs rallied, several times getting within a possession of tying or taking the lead, but the Bears answered every time.
"The biggest thing is that we just couldn't get a stop," UTC coach Lamont Paris said. "We had this speech at halftime about what we need to do. We're going to score enough points, but defensively we've got to do better."
David Jean-Baptiste led the Mocs with 20 points, with Ramon Vila adding 18, Matt Ryan 16 and reserve Trey Doomes 13.
SATURDAY'S STAR
Gary was the difference in the second half, scoring 14 points as the Bears held off UTC's comeback attempt. With Bafutto and Bender facing foul trouble soon after halftime, Gary more than picked up the slack, and he hit four 3-pointers in a seven-minute stretch late in the game to keep the Mocs at bay. His step-back trey with 7:29 to play and the shot clock winding down came after UTC's Ryan hit two free throws to cut the Bears' lead to five. Gary followed 27 seconds later with another bomb to push the lead back into double figures.
STANDOUT STAT
18. Mercer generated that many second-chance points, most of them after prolonged loose-ball situations on the Bears' offensive end of the court. Reserve post James Glisson III had four of the Bears' 11 offensive rebounds, each leading to points.
TURNING POINT
Every time the Mocs made a run, the Bears would answer. The most important of those runs came midway through the second half after Mercer had taken a 58-50 lead on Gary's 3-pointer. Jean-Baptiste hit a jump shot, made a steal and layup to get the Mocs within four. Vila then scored on an offensive rebound, causing the Bears to call a timeout as the McKenzie Arena crowd stood as one in approval. However, Gary hit a 3-pointer and, after former Baylor School standout Patrick Urey stole the ball from the Mocs, Robertson made a layup to subdue the UTC rally.
WHAT IT MEANS
There's no other way to put it: This one stings for the Mocs and their supporters. A win would have clinched a top-six seed at the SoCon tourney, but the loss raises the possibility of the Mocs having to play on the first day. They head into the final week of the regular season tied with Wofford for sixth place. Wins at Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday and over UNC Greensboro at home next Saturday - or one UTC win and one Wofford loss - would clinch the sixth seed for UTC because the Mocs swept the regular-season series with the Terriers.
QUOTABLE
Paris on Mercer doing little things right: "A couple 50-50 balls, a couple 50-50 calls that didn't go our way, too, but Mercer has been playing well, so they're a tough, competitive group. They keep at it, and they compete. I think sometimes that compensates for any deficiencies in talent that you may have. Not suggesting that they do, I'm just saying that they play hard."
Paris on surging sophomore Doomes, a West Virginia transfer: "He did some great stuff, late in the game especially. Another game when he had six rebounds. Some guys just get after it. Some guys are natural rebounders. It's a combination of a lot of different things. Athleticism is part of it, a nose for the ball is another one, but sometimes getting after it is another part of it."
Jean-Baptiste on Mercer's 18 second-chance points: "Our ball-screen coverage, usually when they set the screen on the guard, the big would essentially be guarding a guard, so the guard could shoot. The guard switched on the big, so the big had the advantage. That happened to us a lot, especially at a crucial possession where we needed a stop. Those happen."
Vila on UTC's focus with one week remaining in the regular season: "Just getting two wins. That's it, all we have to do. I know Wofford lost today, and if we tie we will be above them because we beat them twice, so that's good. But we don't want to rely on other teams. We just need to win two more games."
NOTABLE
* Ryan reached the 1,ooo-point mark for his NCAA career, with the last 456 of his career 1,007 coming with UTC. The graduate transfer previously played at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.
* This is UTC's first loss in 10 games when scoring 80-plus points this season. The Mocs are now 4-3 in games decided by five or fewer points.
* A.J. Caldwell's eight rebounds led UTC and are the redshirt sophomore's most as a Moc. It's the fourth time the 6-foot-4, 201-pound redshirt sophomore has led the team in rebounds.
* Vila reached double figures in points for the 20th time this season.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.