SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The last time Wofford and Mercer met in Spartanburg, Justin Gordon hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the final minute to lift the Terriers to a grueling 49-46 victory.
 
Once again, Gordon was the difference. The senior from Charlotte connected on 11-of-12 attempts on his way to a career-high 25 points, leading Wofford over Mercer, 79-70, Thursday night in Southern Conference men's basketball action at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
The Terriers shot 60 percent to build a 41-27 halftime lead. Gordon was 6-for-7 in the opening 20 minutes and did not slow down, connecting on all five of his second-half attempts.
 
"Justin Gordon was a special man tonight," said Wofford head coach Mike Young postgame. "He had a couple of hustle plays that will go in the teaching tapes for when I show guys how we play around here. He was just jumping over top of people and scoring. I'm awfully proud of him and what he brought to this program tonight."
 
Wofford (13-13, 9-4 SoCon) wound up needing every bit of it as Mercer (18-8, 8-5 SoCon) came all the way back to within a single point, 57-56, with just over 10 minutes remaining. Demetre Rivers was the catalyst, scoring 17 second-half points on his way to a team-high 22.
 
"Rivers is a tricky matchup," Young went on to say. "We knew that and I was concerned about it. As good of a job as we did on him in the first half, I thought we that poor of a job in the second half."
 
The Terriers responded with the next seven points to rebuild an eight-point lead. With Mercer hanging around down the stretch, Gordon put all doubt to rest with his 11th and final bucket of the night. It gave the Terriers a double-digit lead with only a minute to play.
 
"We knew Mercer would take stab and fight to stay in the ball game," Young added. "We showed toughness, showed resolve and played a good ball game to beat a really good program."
 
The win gave Wofford sole possession of fourth place in the Southern Conference standings. The Terriers gained a game on first-place Chattanooga (11-2 SoCon), who lost to Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C. Wofford is just a half-game back of both ETSU (9-3 SoCon) and Furman (10-4 SoCon) for second.
 
The Terriers ended the night shooting 55.8 percent (29-52), outshooting Mercer who, despite a 52-percent second half, ended the game at 43.3 percent (26-60). Wofford also did what it had to do on the glass against a team that came into the night ranked No. 7 in the country with a +10.5 rebounding margin. The Terriers matched Mercer with 32 rebounds apiece. Senior C.J. Neumann grabbed a team-high seven.
 
Freshman Fletcher Magee scored 21 points and was 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Senior Spencer Collins scored 13 points and was 3-of-6 from downtown. Wofford ended the game 47.4 percent (9-19) form beyond the arc and held the Bears to 33.3 percent (5-15)
 
Mercer's Ethan Stair scored 15 points and Phillip Leonard had a dozen to join Rivers in double figures. Stephon Jelks grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
The Terriers scored first and did not trail for a single second all night. After setting an NCAA record with an 81-percent showing from 3-point range in Monday night's win over VMI, Wofford came out and hit its first five triples. Magee was good for three of them and Wofford raced out to a 23-9 lead.
 
Wofford wound up shooting 6-of-8 from distance in the first half and led by as many as 15 points. A 3-pointer from Ryan Sawvell right at the end of the half made it a 14-point game at the intermission.
 
There were no signs of slowing down to begin the second half. The Terriers connected on their first four shot attempts, including 3-pointers by Garcia, Magee and Collins. It made Wofford 9-for-11 from range.
 
However, Mercer kept pace and then some. The Bears scored on each of their first seven possessions and opened the half shooting 7-of-8 from the floor. Jordan Strawberry brought the game to single digits and Stair closed out an 8-0 run to make it a 52-45 game just over 5 minutes into the period.
 
It didn't take long for the Bears to go on another run and really make things interesting. A 3-pointer by Rivers, layup by Stairs and two free throws from Lawrence Brown contributed to another 8-0 run, cutting Wofford's 15-point lead to 57-56.
 
The Terriers never gave it up. Magee raced down the floor for a quick bucket and converted a 3-point play to bump Wofford's lead back to four. Two free throws by Collins and a crafty layup from Neumann forced Mercer to call time facing an eight-point deficit.
 
Wofford's lead was never in much danger the rest of the night. Stair made it a 5-point game in the final 5 minutes, but the Terriers locked down and scored eight of the next 10 to put the game out of reach.
 
Wofford plays again at home on Saturday, hosting The Citadel at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear black for "Black Out Night" at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Terrier Notes:
- Gordon scored a career-high 25 points, beating out his previous high of 19 from the season opener at Missouri. Gordon also set a career-high in field goals made (11), shot a season-high 91.7 percent from the floor and tied his season-high of six rebounds.
- Gordon and Magee each scored more than 20 points, marking the second time this season two Terriers went above 20. Both games came against Mercer.
- Wofford took a 22-19 lead in the all-time series and has not lost to Mercer in Spartanburg since 1995.
- Wofford improved to 70-17 (.805) at home since the start of the 2009-10 season.