The Citadel Bulldogs and the Mercer Bears meet Friday in Southern Conference Tournament college basketball action from US Cellular Center. The Citadel comes into this one at 10-21 overall. As for Mercer, they’re currently 13-18 on the year. These teams last met up on Friday in a 22-point Mercer victory. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
The Citadel Bulldogs
The Citadel went 9-15 in their first 24 games this year. The Bulldogs are just 1-6 since then however, falling to UNC Greensboro, Chattanooga, Samford, Wofford, East Tennessee State and Mercer with a win over Furman in that time.
In the Saturday game versus Mercer, the Citadel were down 34-25 after the first half. Things didn’t get any better from there in an eventual 72-50 loss. Stephen Clark put up 14 points with five rebounds and Elijah Morgan managed 11 points in the defeat.
Mercer Bears
Over on the Mercer side, they were 11-13 at the 24-game mark this year. The Bears haven’t been much better in their last seven with a 2-5 run, losing to Samford, Chattanooga, Wofford, Western Carolina and Furman in that time.
Matched up against the Citadel on Saturday, the Bears extended their first-half lead with a 38-25 run after the break. Leading the scoring were Jalyn McCreary (six rebounds) and Luis Hurtado (eight rebounds) each with 12 points.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Mercer in this one. The Bears didn’t have much trouble at all in the Saturday matchup, and they were able to win during the first meeting between these teams as well. Mercer put up a 74-65 victory against the Citadel back on January 28 at McAlister Field House, surging to the win on a 44-36 second half. Neither one of these teams has been playing all that well lately, but Mercer should be able to assert themselves in this tournament matchup.