Brian Mills scored 20 points and Mercer held on to defeat Lipscomb 68-67 in their regular-season finale on Saturday.
The teams will meet again on Thursday in the opening round of the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament in Macon. Lipscomb won the teams' first meeting this season 77-65.
A 3-pointer by Jake Gollon gave the Bears (14-17, 11-9) a 68-64 lead with 22 seconds remaining, but a three-point play by Josh Slater with 14 seconds left brought the Bisons (17-12, 12-8) within a point.
Mercer's Mark Hall was fouled and missed both of his free throws, but Slater was unable to connect on a game-winner after Lipscomb held for the final shot.
Slater scored 23 points to lead Lipscomb, including 15 of 17 from the free-throw line. Adnan Hodzic added 17 points and nine rebounds, giving him 1,993 points in his Bisons career.
Lipscomb committed 15 turnovers to seven for Mercer.
