Mercer romps past the Citadel 66-41 in SoCon tourney opener

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Jalyn McCreary had 11 points in Mercer's 66-41 win over Citadel on Friday night in the opening game of the Southern Conference tournament.

Mercer, the No. 8 seed, advances to face top-seeded Furman in the quarterfinal round Saturday.

McCreary shot 5 of 14 from the field for the Bears (13-18). Michael Zanoni scored 10 points while shooting 3 for 8, including 2 for 6 from beyond the arc. Shannon Grant recorded nine points and was 2 of 3 shooting and 5 of 8 from the free throw line. The victory broke a five-game skid for the Bears.

Madison Durr led the way for the Bulldogs (10-21) with 19 points. David Maynard added nine points for the Citadel. In addition, Stephen Clark finished with six points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Mercer took the lead with 17:36 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it. Kamar Robertson led his team in scoring with five points in the first half to help put them up 27-10 at the break. Mercer pulled away with an 8-0 run in the second half to extend a 16-point lead to 24 points. They outscored Citadel by eight points in the final half, as McCreary led the way with a team-high nine second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.