August 22, 2011

Men’s Basketball Announces Ambitious 2011-12 Slate of Games

 

2011-12 MU Men's Basketball Schedule (PDF)

 

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University men’s basketball head coach Bob Hoffman announced the full schedule for the 2011-12 season on Monday. Included in the Bears’ 2011-12 slate of contests are five first-time opponents - as well as several other rekindled rivalries - and nine games versus foes that saw post-season action last year.

Additionally, Mercer is one of two sub-regional host sites, nationally, for the CBE Classic on November 21-23 at the University Center. For the third-consecutive year, Mercer also welcomes the Atlantic Sun Conference basketball championships to Macon and the UC on Feb. 29-Mar. 3, 2012.

Before getting into the “meat” of the schedule, Bears’ fans have the opportunity to check out the team at the annual Orange & White Intersquad on Sunday, October 23 (3 p.m.) and again on Thursday, Nov. 3 in a home exhibition versus Georgia College (7:30 p.m.).

Mercer will open the season for real on Saturday, Nov. 12 (3 p.m.) at home versus in-state opponent Emory University with its annual Homecoming Game. The Eagles were 20-5 last season and finished the year ranked No. 27 in NCAA Division III. The only other time the Bears have played Emory was on Nov. 11, 2006 (won by Mercer, 89-71).

On Nov. 14, the Bears travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri in a regional game for the CBE Classic. Mizzou leads the series with MU, 3-0, the last meeting coming on Dec. 19, 1996 (a 90-63 win for the Tigers). All three previous meetings have also been in Columbia.

Mercer then travels to Furman on Nov. 17 to face the Paladins for the first time since 2006. Furman earned a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Post-Season Tournament (CIT), where it lost to Mercer’s conference-mate, East Tennessee State University.

The Bears return home to face the three first-time opponents in the CBE Classic sub-regional. Mercer takes on Sam Houston State on Nov. 21, Niagara on Nov. 22 and South Dakota State on Nov. 23. (MU games are all at 7 p.m. with another prior game at 4:30 p.m. each day in the round-robin series).

On Dec. 1 and 3, Mercer opens Atlantic Sun Conference action with an early pair of games in Nashville versus Lipscomb and Belmont, respectively. Belmont (which also plays in Macon on Feb. 25) is the defending A-Sun champion and represented the league in the NCAA tournament last year.

The Bears get back to a string of seven-straight non-conference games on Dec. 7 at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. The two teams have not met since the Bears took a Jan.23, 2003 game by a count of 74-68. That is followed by a home game with Chattanooga on Dec. 10, the first time the teams have met in nearly 20 years (last meeting was Dec. 14, 1991…won by MU, 73-69).

That will bring Hoffman’s squad up to a tough five-game road stretch during the holiday break to close out calendar 2011.  The quintet of contests includes at Seton Hall (Dec. 18) for the first-ever game versus the Pirates, at 2011 NCAA tournament team Georgia (Dec. 20), at Georgia Tech (Dec. 22 in Duluth at the Gwinnett Center), at Tulsa (Dec. 28) for another first-time foe and at Annapolis, Md., for a return game versus Navy (Dec. 30).

Mercer then resumes A-Sun games at home on Jan. 2 versus Florida Gulf Coast University. A-Sun opponents include a pair of games each versus 2011 CIT post-season tournament teams Jacksonville (Jan. 23 and Feb. 18) and East Tennessee State (Jan. 7 and Feb. 6).

“This will be a very challenging and difficult schedule,” said Hoffman. “There is no real ‘break’ anywhere in the schedule where you can relax. We will need to be ready to play each and every time out.

“While our team may be young (just one senior), I believe the returning players all got plenty of valuable court time last season and the newcomers will certainly help fill some of the voids caused by graduation. I know that these guys will not shy away from any challenges the schedule may provide.”

All Mercer University men’s basketball games are broadcast live on The Peach 96.5 FM in middle Georgia. Fans can also listen in via the MercerBears.com web site, as well as at peach965.com.  Smart phone users (iPhone, Blackberry and Droid) can hear games anywhere by downloading the iHeartRadio application and tuning in, as well.

 

 

Mercer University “Bears”
2011-12 Men’s Basketball Schedule

 

DATE	DAY	OPPONENT/EVENT	SITE	TIME
OCT. 23	SU	^ORANGE & WHITE INTERSQUAD	MACON, GA.	3 P.M.
NOV. 3	TH	^~GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE	MACON, GA.	7:30 P.M.
NOV. 12	S	%EMORY	MACON, GA.	3 P.M.
Nov. 14	M	+at Missouri	Columbia, Mo.	8 p.m.
Nov. 17	Th	at Furman	Greenville, S.C.	7 p.m.
NOV. 21	M	+SAM HOUSTON STATE  (So. Dakota St. vs. Niagara @ 4:30 p.m.)	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
NOV. 22	T	+NIAGARA (So. Dakota St. vs. Sam Houston St. @ 4:30 p.m.)	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
NOV. 23	W	+SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (Niagara vs. Sam Houston St. @ 4:30 p.m.)	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
Dec. 1	Th	*~at Lipscomb	Nashville, Tenn.	8:15 p.m.
Dec. 3	S	*~at Belmont	Nashville, Tenn.	5:15 p.m.
Dec. 7	W	at Samford	Birmingham, Ala	8 p.m.
DEC. 10	S	UT-CHATTANOOGA	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
Dec. 18	Su	at Seton Hall	Newark, N.J.	7 p.m.
Dec. 20	T	at Georgia	Athens, Ga.	7 p.m.
Dec. 22	Th	$at Georgia Tech	Duluth, Ga.	TBA
Dec. 28	W	at Tulsa	Tulsa, Okla.	8:05 p.m.
Dec. 30	F	at Navy	Annapolis, Md.	7 p.m.
JAN. 2	M	*~FLORIDA GULF COAST	MACON, GA.	7:30 P.M.
JAN. 4	W	*~STETSON	MACON, GA.	7:30 P.M.
Jan. 7	S	*~at East Tennessee State	Johnson City, Tenn.	4 p.m.
Jan. 9	M	*~at USC Upstate	Spartanburg, S.C.	7:30 p.m.
JAN. 13	F	*KENNESAW STATE	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
JAN. 21	S	*~NORTH FLORIDA	MACON, GA.	4:30 P.M.
JAN. 23	M	*JACKSONVILLE	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
Jan. 28	S	*~at Stetson	DeLand, Fla.	3:15 p.m.
Jan. 30	M	*at Florida Gulf Coast	Ft. Myers, Fla.	7:05 p.m.
FEB. 4	S	*~USC UPSTATE	MACON, GA.	4:30 P.M.
FEB. 6	M	*EAST TENNESSEE STATE	MACON, GA.	7 P.M.
Feb. 10	F	*at Kennesaw State	Kennesaw, Ga.	7 p.m.
Feb. 18	S	*~at Jacksonville	Jacksonville, Fla.	3:30 p.m.
Feb. 20	M	*at North Florida	Jacksonville, Fla.	7 p.m.
FEB. 23	TH	*~LIPSCOMB	MACON, GA.	7:30 P.M.
FEB. 25	S	*~BELMONT	MACON, GA.	4:30 P.M.
FEB. 29- MAR. 3	W-S	A-SUN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS	MACON, GA.	TBA

Home games in BOLD CAPS                 All times listed as Eastern Time zone                              Schedule subject to change

^    denotes exhibition                          
~   denotes doubleheader                                 
%  denotes Homecoming game

+   denotes CBE Classic tournament games         

$   denotes game played at The Arena at Gwinnett Center (Duluth, Ga.)

*   denotes Atlantic Sun Conference games

 

All Mercer Men’s Basketball games broadcast LIVE on The Peach 96.5 FM
(air time approx. 15 minutes prior to tipoff time). Listen on the web at MercerBears.com or peach965.com, as well as via iPhone, Blackberry and Droid with the application available at iHeartRadio.com.