Newspaper Page Text
MERCER CLUSTER
JAN. 10. 1969
Players Honored
Bears Win Second
Annual Mercer Invitational
L to R Standing: Coach Wilder. Ken Redmond, Jim Hildebrandt, Seabe Thornton, Jim Graham, Tom Mitchell, Doug Porter,
Judd Roberts, Marvin Bailey, Coach Donald Veal. Kneeling: Bruce Gordy, Robert Bclloir.
Bears Rip Southern, 73-59
By Louis Johnson
Sports Editor
Perhaps influenced by perform
ances of "underdog" teams in some
bowl game, the Mercer Bears used
u tenacious defense and ripped
pre-tournament favorite Georgia
Southern to shreds, 73-59, to win
the second annual Mercer Invita
tional last weekend in the Colise
um
Nowhere near favorites and
bringing the worst record, 1-4, into
the tournament, the Bears des
troyed their opponents with sur
prising ease They trailed only
once in the entire tournament, fall
ing liehind ft. Valiev State 10 in
their first game, and dominated
the All-Tonmament team, with
Little All America candidate Jud
Roberts capturing Most Valuable
Player honors Robert Bclloir and
freshman Bruce Gordy were select
ed to the AIL-Toumey team Other
members of the All Tournament
included Walter Gilmore of Ft.
Valley State, Kenny Davis of
Georgetown and David Wester-
field of Georgia Southern
In the first game, the Bears
rolled up a twenty point lead in
the second half of play and fought
off a game Ft Valley team for a
80 70 victory.
The Bears displayed a balanced
scoring attack with five players
scoring in double figures. Roberts
and Bclloir led the way with 17
a piece, followed by Gordy, Jim
Graham and Marvin Bailey, ano
ther freshman, with 14 each. Gor
dy, a product of Lanier High, made
his debut as a starter one he'll
long remember as he played a fine
defensive game and rebounded well
against players who were as much
as six inches taller.
The Bears utilized a fast break
with crisp, pin-point passes to run
away with the Wildcat*, who had a
dismal night from the floor, hitting
on only 28 of 92 shots for u 29.5
l>er cent shooting average. Mercer
hit on 33 of 77 field goals for 43.5
per cent. The Bears held a big
edge in rebounding, capturing 76
errant shots to 51 for the Wildcats.
In the championship game, the
Bears played defense like it was
supposed to he played. They al
lowed the Eagles only eight points
in the last nine minutes and won
going away. The Bears led 8-1
early in the game and increased
that lead to as much as 11 |K>ints
before their biggest lead of 14 late
in the game and at it's conclusion.
With 6-5 Bailey sticking to
Southern's Roger Moore like glue
and getting plenty of help from his
teammales when needed, the Bears
held Moore to only four points af
ter he had wrecked Georgetown
the night before with 29 points.
The Eagles had their hands full
as they tried everything in their
'playground" looking offense, but
their inability to hit from outside
proved to he decisive in the out
come
The Bears hit on 28 64 field
goals for 45 per cent while holding
Southern to 27-84 for just 33 per
cent. These percentages gave the
Bears a 44 5 shooting percentage
for the two games, while their
opponents shot at a cool 32 per
cent.
TTie Eagles held a slim advan
tage in the rebound department
however, claiming 54 to 60 for the
Bears These figure* gave the
Bear* a two game total of 125 re
bounds to 105 for their opponents.
This was only part of the story
that spelled victory for the Bears.
| Perhaps the most significant fact
is that the Bears defense held the
opposition to an average of only
64 6 d game, far below their sea
son average prior to the tourna
ment of 85 pointa-per game al
lowed. Mercer averaged 76 point*
for the two games, just four [xiints
below their season average before
the games,
Kenny Davis of Georgetown ran
away with scoring honors in the
tournament with a total of 61
points. His teammate James Da
vis, an All-America candidate, was
runnerup with 66 points.
The next home game for the
Bears will be on Jan 9 against a
tough Georgia State team that de
feated the Bears in the first game
of the season The young State
team has been playing the role of
giant killers this year, having beat
the Bears, a usually strong Florida
Southern quintet, and Rollins.
This should be an interesting re
match for a re vitalized Bear five.
Ooach Bob Wilder said that Geor
gia State is a much improved team
and will be tough to beat. “They
beat Rollins and Rollins has a win
over Stetson, who beat us in our
first home game." said Wilder.
Coach Wilder, still savoring the
weekend victories, expressed plea
sure over the recent play of hia
Bears. "We didn’t shoot as much
as we usually do, but they played
a much smarter game and good
defense, and you can't win until
you play defense," said Wilder.
Intramurnls To
Start Thursday
The intramural basketball
son starts on Jan. 9 with MIM
meeting Willards at 6 p.m N«
week will see a full slate of i sn»
starting with Leo's facing tl
Snakes at 7 p.m. on Jan. 13. I
lowed by the Rebels and Big I
match. On Jan, 14 the Atoms ■ ^
take on P K's at 7 p.m. and I j
Crescents will go against the U
affiliates at 8 p.m. Jan 16 h.isol ^
game, Leo’s against P. K.'
cA View Sating Sensation !
chick-n-treat
Fish & Shrimp
open til 1 p.m. Fri. and Sat.
8tu
THE MERCER CLUSTER
Martar Univarsity
Macon, Gaorgia
Non Profit Orgam>
kun