3 months ago
A week after their exhibition win over GCSU the Mercer men's basketball team loaded onto the team bus en route to their season opening tournament.
James Florence and the Bears get things started Friday in the World Visition Invitational, and they'll do so with a tough slate of three games in three days.
"The great thing is there's no pressure or anyting we just go play, but it could be an unbelieveable weekend," head coach Bob Hoffman said.
It starts with Bucknell on Friday, against a team that has made themselves familiar with the NCAA Tournament in recent years out of the Patriot League. Then they'll face Bryant on Saturday.
On Sunday Hoffman's crew will have their first matchup with an opponent out of a major conference. Providence, the Big East home team, will take on the Bears.
"This doesn't make or break us this weekend," Hoffman said. "We can still win the conference we can still make the NCAAs no matter what happens."
It's the start of another ver competitive non-conference schedule for Mercer, who nabbed wins over Alabama and Auburn a year ago. They'd love to get the new season off on a similar note.
"We want to get the season started off right like we did last year," senior forward Daniel Emerson said. "It's important to us to start off well, hopefully we'll all get on the same page."
The Bears' first home game comes Wed. November 18th against Fisk at 7:00 p.m.
