2015–16 Mercer Bears men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2015–16 Mercer Bears Mercer Bears wordmark.svg 200 Southern Conference SoCon 19–15 8–10 Bob Hoffman 8th Doug Esleeck Jarred Merrill Jason Eaker Hawkins Arena Challenge in Music City Champions CIT First round The 2015–16 Mercer Bears men's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by eighth year head coach Bob Hoffman, played their home games at Hawkins Arena on the university's Macon, Georgia campus and were second year members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 19–15, 8–10 in SoCon play to finish in seventh place. They defeated The Citadel in the first round of the SoCon tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to East Tennessee State. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Coastal Carolina. Murder of Jibri Bryan Jibri Bryan, a sixth-year senior, was shot and killed on February 2, 2016. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the driver's seat of a Chevy Monte Carlo parked in a convenience store in Macon, Georgia. Bryan played in six games in the 2015–16 season due to a knee injury, averaging 7.8 points per game. Jarvis Clinton Miller has been charged in the murder of Bryan after attempting to flee from the crime scene. In a statement, Mercer coach Bob Hoffman said, "Jibri Bryan was a special young man who was a great contributor to our team and did everything that was asked of him.Officials charge man in murder of Mercer's Jibri Bryan; gunman at large https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14704573/officials-charge-man-murder-mercer-bears-guard-jibri-bryan-gunman-large February 3, 2016 ESPN February 3, 2015 Roster 2015 Mercer Bears y Desmond Ringer 0 F 6 9 255 SO McDonough, Georgia Phillip Leonard 1 G 6 2 200 SR Tulsa, Oklahoma Jaylen Stowe 2 G 6 2 205 FR yes Harrisburg, North Carolina Tyre Moore 3 G 6 4 180 SO Charleston, South Carolina Jestin Lewis 5 F 6 1 170 SR Richmond, Virginia Jordan Strawberry 11 G 6 1 175 SO Santa Ana, California Stephon Jelks 15 F 6 6 225 SO Marietta, Georgia Cory Kilby 20 F 6 7 195 FR Ada, Oklahoma Ethan Stair 22 G 6 5 205 FR Hazel Green, Alabama Demetre Rivers 23 F 6 8 180 SO Goose Creek, South Carolina Lawrence Brown 25 G 6 5 210 JR Kansas City, Missouri James Bento 32 F 6 6 195 JR Houston, Texas Jibri Bryan 34 G 6 4 185 SR Savannah, Georgia Niklas Ney 52 F 6 10 260 SO Berlin, Germany Andrew Fishler 55 C 7 1 218 JR Cumming, Georgia Bob Hoffman (Oklahoma Baptist) Doug Esleeck (North Carolina) Jarred Merrill (Oklahoma Christian) Jason Eaker (Texas–Pan American) Schedule http://mercerbears.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule 2015-16 Men's Basketball Schedule - Mercer Mercerbears.com 2016-02-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20160205155929/http://mercerbears.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/schedule 2016-02-05 dead no 2015-16 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings 2015 yes yes |- ! colspan="9" style="background:#e87511; color:#000;"| Regular season 11/13/2015 7:00 pm yes no Allen Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,201 96–70 1–0 11/16/2015 7:00 pm yes no George Mason Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 2,427 69–60 2–0 11/19/2015 7:00 pm yes no Alabama State Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,437 70–49 3–0 11/23/2015 7:00 pm yes yes no Davidson John M. Belk Arena Davidson, NC 3,861 71–77 3–1 11/26/2015 8:00 pm yes yes no Tulane Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN Challenge in Music City 350 ASN 71–61 4–1 11/27/2015 6:00 pm yes yes no Appalachian State Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN Challenge in Music City   71–70 5–1 11/29/2015 7:00 pm yes yes no Western Michigan Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN Challenge in Music City   ASN 68–65 6–1 12/02/2015 7:00 pm yes no Hiwassee Hawkins Arena Macon, GA Challenge in Music City 2,172 82–47 7–1 12/05/2015 4:30 pm yes no Alcorn State Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 2,963 68–43 8–1 12/15/2015 9:00 pm yes yes no Auburn Auburn Arena Auburn, AL 8,033 SECN 71–78 8–2 12/19/2015 8:00 pm yes yes no Arkansas Verizon Arena North Little Rock, AR North Little Rock Showcase 9,120 69–66 OT 9–2 12/22/2015 9:00 pm yes yes no Ohio State Value City Arena Columbus 11,460 ESPNU 44–64 9–3 12/30/2015 2:00 pm yes yes no Kennesaw State KSU Convocation Center Kennesaw, GA 1,903 76–73 10–3 01/02/2016 4:30 pm no Samford Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,715 ESPN3 69–50 11–3 1–0 01/05/2016 7:00 pm yes no Chattanooga McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, TN 3,361 ESPN3 62–74 11–4 1–1 01/09/2016 1:00 pm yes no The Citadel McAlister Field House Charleston, SC   ESPN3 91–80 12–4 2–1 01/14/2016 7:00 pm no Furman Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,672 ESPN3 69–65 13–4 3–1 01/16/2016 4:30 pm no Wofford Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 4,502 ESPN3 70–69 OT 14–4 4–1 01/21/2016 7:00 pm yes no East Tennessee State Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, TN 3,003 ESPN3 63–65 OT 14–5 4–2 01/24/2016 1:00 pm yes no Western Carolina Ramsey Center Cullowhee, NC Postponed from 1/23/16 1,112 80–86 2OT 14–6 4–3 01/28/2016 7:00 pm no VMI Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 2,693 ESPN3 73–58 15–6 5–3 01/30/2016 4:30 pm no UNC Greensboro Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 4,032 ESPN3 81–67 16–6 6–3 02/01/2016 8:00 pm yes no Samford Pete Hanna Center Homewood, AL 1,263 85–70 17–6 7–3 02/06/2016 4:30 pm no The Citadel Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 4,772 ESPN3 88–72 18–6 8–3 02/08/2016 7:00 pm no Chattanooga Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,721 ESPN3 66–72 OT 18–7 8–4 02/11/2016 7:00 pm yes no Wofford Benjamin Johnson Arena Spartanburg, SC 2,023 ESPN3 70–79 18–8 8–5 02/13/2016 4:00 pm yes no Furman Timmons Arena Greenville, SC 2,368 ESPN3 74–85 18–9 8–6 02/18/2016 7:00 pm no Western Carolina Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,627 ESPN3 65–72 18–10 8–7 02/20/2016 4:30 pm no East Tennessee State Hawkins Arena Macon, GA 3,874 ESPN3 74–77 18–11 8–8 02/25/2016 7:00 pm yes no VMI Cameron Hall Lexington, VA 1,194 ESPN3 82–91 18–12 8–9 02/28/2016 1:00 pm yes no UNC Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC 3,156 ESPN3 65–69 18–13 8–10 |- ! colspan="9" style="background:#e87511; color:#000;"| SoCon tournament 03/04/2016 7:30 pm no yes The Citadel U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC First round 2,411 ESPN3 71–69 19–13 03/05/2016 6:00 pm no yes East Tennessee State U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC Quarterfinals ESPN3 65–81 19–14 |- ! colspan="9" style="background:#e87511; color:#000;"| CIT 03/15/2016 7:00 pm yes no yes Coastal Carolina HTC Center Conway, SC First round 940 57–65 19–15 AP Poll Eastern Time References Category:Mercer Bears men's basketball seasons Mercer Mercer Mercer Bears Mercer Bears