Mercer men’s and women’s basketball hope to get hot in Southern Conference tournament this weekend

The Mercer men’s basketball team will be very familiar with their opponent in the opening round of the Southern Conference tournament.

The Bears capped off the regular season with a win against Western Carolina at Hawkins Arena last week, getting an 81-69 victory on Senior Day.

Now they will face the Catamounts again in the conference tournament Friday in the No. 8/No. 9 game in Asheville at 5 p.m.

“It felt good to go out there for these seniors and players with no eligibility left and get a win,” head coach Ryan Ridder said Monday afternoon. “It’s a little unique playing them Saturday and then turning around and playing them again.”

Mercer finished the year 13-18 overall with a 6-12 conference record in Ridder’s first season at the helm.

While the last game offered a high note, Mercer struggled in its second time facing SoCon opponents in the regular season, going 2-7 against league foes the second time through. Those two wins were against the only two teams below them in conference standings, WCU and The Citadel.

“If you look at it, we have at least one game against every team in the conference except for Wofford where we either won or we were within one basket,” Ridder said. “I think we know this team has potential to play with anyone.”

Many of those close games came closer to the beginning of conference play, though Mercer harnessed some amount of momentum in the final stretch. The Bears lost to East Tennessee State, a top-four team in the SoCon, by a single point in their penultimate game Feb. 26.

“Our guys are playing with edge again, I think. We went through a stretch where we weren’t playing with enough edge,” Ridder said. “It’s a long season, one of the longest there is… but it’s the tournament, I’m fired up to coach these guys still.

Ridder and many of the players who are transfers will appear in the SoCon tournament for the first time, a date the team looked forward to all year. Ridder often spoke about getting the team to play its best basketball in Asheville.

The head coach was also impressed with the conference’s talent, calling the SoCon a “monster league.” He anticipated some growth for the program, but avoided focusing too much on the future.

“We can’t even begin to look at next year,” Ridder said. “That’s not fair to the guys with no eligibility left. We’re going to play our tails off for each other and try and go win four games.”

As far as players to watch, Ahmad Robinson and Chip Johnson have regularly led the Bears in scoring this year. Robinson had 28 points in the season-ending win over the Catamounts, while Alex Holt had 12 points and a career-best six blocks.

“Chip has consistently been big for us,” Ridder said of players to keep an eye on in the tournament. “Brady Shoulders, being an 18-year-old freshman getting so many minutes, he’s grown a lot. (Laurynas Vaistaras) has been good the last few weeks. There’s a lot to watch for.”

Should Mercer win its first-round game, which acts as a sort of “play-in” for lower ranked teams, the Bears will play No. 1 Chattanooga at noon Saturday.

The women will take on the Mocs right off the bat, as Mercer got the No. 9 seed and play No. 2 Chattanooga at 1:15 p.m. Thursday.

Head coach Michelle Clark-Heard expected good performances from her star players, especially seniors.

“It’s tough. I’ve been there as a player, they know this is the end of the road,” Heard said. “Ashlee (Locke) has got one more, they’ve all got one more. I want her to be in the moment, enjoy it and play to the best of her ability.”

Locke has been a key for the Bears all season in her senior year. At the other end of the spectrum, freshman guard Talia Harris has been a revelation for Mercer.

“I know she’s on my All-Freshman list for the conference,” Heard said of Harris. “She can look over her shoulder and there’s really nobody else with her numbers. She’’s been great for us.”

Mercer finished the year 8-21 with a 3-11 mark in the SoCon. The Bears lost to Chattanooga by 23 and 30 points in their two meetings with the Mocs, but Heard is unphased.

“We know what to expect from them. Credit to (head coach Deandra Schirmer), she’s got them in second place playing well,” Heard said. “I’ve coached in a lot of tournaments, and I’ve won a lot. I’m excited to see what our girls can do.”

If Mercer wins, the Bears will play in the conference semifinals at 1:15 p.m. Friday.