Lewis, Jelks lead Mercer to 85-70 win over Samford

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Jestin Lewis hit four 3-pointers and scored 26, and Stephon Jelks added 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead Mercer past Samford 85-70 Monday night.

Phillip Leonard had a career-high tying 10 assists for Mercer, which shot a season-high 58 percent from the field and improved to 9-0 this season when hitting at least half its field-goal attempts.

Lewis hit a jumper, then a 3-pointer to spark and 11-4 run which gave the Bears (17-7, 7-3 Southern Conference) a 32-24 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

Back-to-back layups by Ethan Stair capped a 10-2 spurt which gave Mercer its biggest lead of the game, 50-34, with 14:57 to play and Samford never again got closer than down seven.

Darius Jones-Gibson scored 17 with seven assists while Jamal Shabazz added 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (11-12, 2-8), who have lost four in a row.