SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team (10-9, 4-2) held the Mercer Bears (9-10, 2-4) to 29.8 percent shooting in a 69-49 win at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.
 
"We knew we had to muster up a lot of fight tonight," said head coach Dwight Perry. "Toughness was going to win this game. Credit to our guys. That was a great and total team effort, and a lot of guys stepped up and delivered tonight."
 
Wofford finished the night shooting 42.6 percent (23-54) and made 10 threes at a 31.3 percent rate. The team held Mercer to a season-low 29.8 percent (17-57) from the field and 18.2 percent (4-22) from three. The 49 points from Mercer are the least amount of points scored in conference action this season. The Bears averaged 81.5 points per game coming into the night.
 
"It's what we preach everyday in practice," said Corey Tripp on the defensive effort. "We held them to 49 points, and that was big. Now we just have to keep stacking on that."
 
Three Terriers finished in double-digits with Justin Bailey leading the team at 18 points. The junior guard is now averaging 15.8 points a game in the last four outings. Dillon Bailey followed behind with 13 points, along with 12 from Corey Tripp. Dillon Bailey hit 5-of-6 free throws while Justin knocked down 6-of-8.
 
"I'm just taking what the defense gives me," said Justin Bailey on his offensive performance. "My teammates and my coaches did a great job of putting me in positions where I can attack the defense."
 
Wofford won the battle on the glass 41-36 which featured seven offensive rebounds. Freshman guard Luke Flynn paced the team with a career-high 10 rebounds. Kyler Filewich followed behind with nine rebounds. Corey Tripp and Jeremy Lorenz grabbed four each.
 
The Terriers won the turnover margin, forcing nine Mercer turnovers while committing only seven. The Bears came into the matchup averaging 9.8 steals per game and only forced five against the Terriers. Jeremy Lorenz led the team with two swipers. Wofford totaled 10 assists on 23 made shots. Jackson Sivills paced the group with three assists.
 
Mercer jumped on the board first after scoring four-straight points, but a pair of free throws from Corey Tripp got the team on the board. The two free throws along with a Kyler Filewich layup kickstarted a 10-0 run. Justin Bailey scored six-straight to cap off the run as the team took a 10-4 lead with 16:38 remaining.
 
The Bears tried to cut in on the deficit, however, back-to-back threes from Jackson Sivills propelled Wofford to a seven-point advantage. Mercer continued to battle, taking a 23-20 lead with 4:29 left in the first frame. The Terriers clamped down on defense for the final stretch, though, not allowing another point heading into the break. Wofford would lead Mercer 26-23.
 
A three-pointer from Corey Tripp to start the half finished off a 9-0 run as the Terriers took six-point lead early in the second stanza. Mercer kept the deficit under double-digits for several minutes, but six unanswered points from Wofford allowed the team to take a 43-32 lead with 13:31 remaining in the half.
 
The Bears stayed within striking distance over the next 10 minutes, as the team trailed by eight points with just over five minutes of action left in the contest. Back-to-back three-pointers from Dillon and Justin Bailey along with a pair of free throws by Dillon helped the team jump out to its largest lead of the game, 16 points. The Terriers would hold on and earn their fourth SoCon win of the season in a 69-49 victory at home.
 
Wofford will be back in action on Wednesday, January 22, at 7:00 p.m. against The Citadel. The Terriers will follow that up with a road trip to Samford.