MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s basketball team concludes its six-game home stand with a non-conference tilt against Fort Valley Thursday night with a 7 p.m. tip-off at the University Center.
“This is a game that always draws a lot of local interest,” said Mercer head coach Mark Slonaker. “We will have a good crowd on hand. Fort Valley is a much-improved team. Coach Williams has done a great job with them and it will be a challenge for us. We want to keep the momentum going and build off our two wins. We want to keep improving as a team.”
Mercer (3-4, 1-1 A-Sun) is coming off back-to-back wins, including a dramatic seven-point overtime conference win past Kennesaw State Saturday afternoon that snapped a two-game losing skid, followed by a 78-59 win over Big South Conference opponent Charleston Southern on Thursday night. With a win Thursday night, the Bears could match last season’s longest winning streak of three games.
Fort Valley (0-2, 0-2 SIAC) narrowly dropped its first two contests of the season, at home to Southern Intercollegiate Athletic opponents Miles College in a 58-56 decision, then last Saturday night, 85-80, to visiting Lemoyne-Owen College. The Wildcats lost an exhibition contest to A-Sun member Kennesaw State, 68-56, back on Nov. 7.
Mercer and Fort Valley are meeting for the first time since Dec. 7, 2004, when the Bears came away with an 89-66 victory. The Bears lead the all-time series, 9-1, and have won eight straight versus the Wildcats.
The Mercer guard duo of junior Shaddean Aaron and James Florence is leading the Bears’ attack – each player scored career-highs against Kennesaw State, with Florence netting a game-high 23 points and Aaron tallying 21 points against the Owls. The tandem followed up with career highs of 27 points and 22 points, respectively, versus Charleston Southern. Florence gathered in a career-high 10 rebounds versus Kennesaw State, while adding five steals. Aaron grabbed a career-high five steals against the Buccaneers.
Sophomore sensation Calvin Henry is also making life difficult for opponents, averaging a double-double over his last three outings, scoring 11.7 ppg while collecting 10.3 rebounds. The Orlando, Fla., native also averaged 4.0 blocked shots and two steals against ETSU, Kennesaw State and Charleston Southern.
The Bears held Charleston Southern to 59 points, which is the lowest point total by a Mercer opponent since the Bears defeated former A-Sun Conference member Georgia State, 73-55, Jan. 27, 2004, while Mercer swiped a season-high 13 steals last Monday night against the Buccaneers and committed a season-low 13 turnovers. The 19-point margin of victory over CSU was the largest since the Bears downed Savannah State, 88-63, just more than a year ago.
The Wildcats, who return three starters from last season’s 14-14 squad that finished seventh in the SIAC, were a pre-season choice to finish fifth in the SIAC this season, behind Paine, Morehouse, Benedict and Albany State. Seniors Ray Northern and Kenneth Saunders were preseason second-team all-SIAC selections. Northern garnered second-team all-conference honors following the 2005-06 season after leading the league in 3-point field goals, averaging 2.68 per contest. The Wildcats have three players averaging double-figure scoring, led by junior Michael Davis’ 15.5 ppg average. Davis also pulls down a team-high 7.0 rebounds a game. Northern adds 14.5 points a contest.
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