CINCINNATI (OH) – Beware the Mercer Bears (3-1) as they prepare to take on the Dayton Flyers Tuesday night at UD Arena. These Bears from Macon, GA have high profile wins over Alabama and Auburn, while Georgia Tech barely escaped the Mercer Homecoming with a five-point overtime win.
New head coach Bob Hoffman is a proven winner with a pedigree that includes stints in the ABA, NBADL and a .702 winning percentage that ranks 17th among active Division I coaches. At the top of his resume are two trips to the NAIA Men’s Final Four and one Women’s NAIA National Championship.
Despite inheriting a team that went 11-19 last season, Hoffman knew he had enough returning talent to contend in the Atlantic Sun. Returning were the Bears leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker and a strong group of upperclassmen.
Hoffman’s relentless attitude is manifest in his team where the Bears are out-rebounding opponents by 15.5 per game and holding their opponents under 41% from the field and under 31% from behind the arc.
“We talked for two practices, three days, (that) we’re gonna have to be physical,” Hoffman said prior to the Alabama game. “They were going to hit us hard and early and often and we had to respond playing physical.”
And respond they did out rebounding the Tide 56-38.
Proving it was no fluke, the Bears out rebounded Auburn 46-21 three days later.
“They just annihilated us on the glass,” Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo said. “They just destroyed us. They are just physical and strong."
While junior forward Daniel Emerson (6-8 235) leads the team in rebounding (11.5) and is second in scoring (13.8), his most important contribution could be his infectious energy.
“Emerson does an unbelievable job of keeping balls alive that he can’t get to,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “He doesn’t give up on any play.”
Emerson is versatile enough to score in the paint or from behind the arc if left open. He knocks down his free throws and is a competent passer.
Junior point guard James Florence (6-1 186) is an offensive dynamo. He was named 2nd Team All-Conference last season and reached 1,000 points in just two seasons. He’s averaging 23.3 points per game this year and leads the team with 11 steals.
Florence is cat-quick with an excellent handle and is most comfortable slashing to the basket where he can finish or gets fouled. He can get into the paint at will, but when the defense collapses he’ll force bad shots or turn it over.
Florence isn’t afraid to take the three, but has made less than 30% from behind the arc for his career.
Senior forward Calvin Henry (6-7 201) is an excellent defender and rebounder. He won’t force his offense, but will shoot when open and is a great finisher around the basket.
Henry is the returning A-Sun defensive player of the year and lead the conference in blocked shots with 58. He’s third all time in blocked shots at Mercer and has swatted seven shots so far this season.
All three players log 30+ minutes and their production has been key in all three wins. Dayton will need to keep Florence out of the paint and Henry and Emerson off the glass.
Mercer plays smothering half-court defense, rarely gambling for turnovers. Hoffman is content for a contested shot and defensive rebound. The Bears will run when they can, but unforced turnovers have been a problem all year as the players adjust to the faster pace Hoffman prefers.
“I don’t think we’re executing as well as we can on offense,” Hoffman said. “We’ve scored some, and we’ve had individual guys make good plays, but we’re not executing still the way I’d like.”
Mercer’s other glaring weakness is on the perimeter where they are only making 33% of their three-point attempts. As mentioned before Emerson and Henry will occasionally knock down the three if left open, but the only other perimeter threat is junior guard E.J. Kusnyer (6-5 222). The community college transfer is a spot-up jump shooter knocking down 36% of his three-point attempts.
This is a favorable match-up for the Flyers and a chance for a quality win. Dayton should be able to generate transition offense by creating turnovers. And that’s vital, because they will struggle to score in the half-court.
The Flyers haven’t yet faced a team with the tenacity of the Bears and matching them rebound for rebound is important.
Gregory has a track record of being able to take away one player on offense or at least making them work twice as hard to get their points. Dayton will focus on keeping Florence out of the paint and have the personnel to achieve that with Rob Lowry and
London Warren.
The Flyers contest shots inside the three-point line as well as any team, and Mercer doesn’t appear to have the shooters needed to loosen up the Dayton defense.
Mercer has been able to overcome poor perimeter shooting and 19 turnovers a game with their rebounding. If Dayton negates that advantage, Mercer shouldn’t be able to overcome the extra 10-12 possessions the Flyers will earn.