Wake Forest 74, Mercer 71: Travis McKie collected 23 points and 15 rebounds and C.J. Harris scored five of his 15 points in the final 1:40 to help the Demon Deacons rally past the Bears in the seventh-place game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
Mercer (2-3) scored on the opening possession and did not trail until McKie's dunk gave Wake Forest (2-2) a 72-71 lead with 21 seconds left. After a Mercer turnover, Chase Fischer knocked down two free throws to make it a three-point game, and Jakob Gollon's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
The Demon Deacons trailed by as many as 11 in the second half before McKie and Harris brought them back. Harris scored 11 of his points after Mercer took a 57-46 lead with 9:13 left, and McKie scored nine points during that stretch.
Jibri Bryan came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points for Mercer, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Gollon added 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals while Bud Thomas had 10 points for the Bears.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Wake Forest improved to 18-2 against current members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. … Mercer has yet to beat an NCAA Division I team this season; its wins coming against Division III schools Sewanee and Oglethorpe. … The Demon Deacons committed a season-low 14 turnovers after having at least 18 in each of their first three games.
Mercer | Wake Forest | |
Jibri Bryan 14 | Scoring | Travis McKie 23 |
Travis Smith 6 | Assists | Codi Miller-McIntyre 3 |
Jakob Gollon 6 | Rebounds | Travis McKie 15 |
T.J. Hallice 5 | Free Throws Made | Travis McKie 11 |
Jakob Gollon 4 | Steals | Travis McKie 3 |
Daniel Coursey 2 | Blocks | Devin Thomas 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Mercer | 71 | 43.9 | 9-19 | 12-16 | 14 | 29 | 4 | 9 | 15 |
Wake Forest | 74 | 42.0 | 6-13 | 26-41 | 11 | 34 | 3 | 9 | 15 |