GAME NOTES: The Mercer Bears are set for their first-ever Southern Conference game on Saturday afternoon as they host the VMI Keydets at Hawkins Arena.

VMI is also a first-year member of the SoCon and came away with an 88-66 win at Samford in its league opener on Thursday night. The Keydets have rebounded from a three-game slide by winning their last two. This is the second leg of the team's three-game road trip.

Mercer returned home from the Great Alaska Shootout and claimed a 62-33 win over St. Andrews on Tuesday. That marked the first of four straight home games for the Bears, who are 3-0 at Hawkins Arena. They'll wrap up their homestand against non-league foes Dartmouth and Bethune-Cookman next week.

The all-time series between these two teams is tied, 1-1.

VMI pulled away from Samford early in the second half on back-to-back 3- pointers by Julian Eleby and Q.J. Peterson that opened up a 10-point lead. The Keydets went on to outscore the Bulldogs at the foul line in the second half, 15-1, to preserve the win. They also forced 20 turnovers for the game and committed only 10. Peterson, who is averaging a team-high 19.4 ppg, made 15- of-17 free throws and led all scorers with 28 points to go along with a game- high six assists. Eleby contributed 19 points and five steals off the bench, while Jordan Weethee finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for a double- double.

Ike Nwamu is the only player averaging double figures for Mercer as the junior guard is putting up 17.1 ppg. He is shooting at a 40 percent clip from the perimeter through eight games. The Bears are not a particularly potent offensive squad, but they have held opponents to 37.8 percent shooting from the floor and only 59.5 ppg. Of course, Tuesday's game against an overmatched St. Andrews squad certainly boosted the team's defensive statistics. Nwamu drained seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 27 points in that game, which was never really in doubt considering St. Andrews shot just 27.5 percent from the floor and put only 33 points on the board.

VMI is playing pretty well at the moment, and the Keydets certainly put the rest of the SoCon on notice with that 22-point win over Samford in their league debut Thursday night. The Bears will need offensive contributions from more than just Nwamu if they want to win this one.