ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — David Thomas had 27 points in eighth-seeded Mercer's 84-76 victory over nine-seed The Citadel on Friday in the Southern Conference Tournament.

Mercer will face top seed Samford in Saturday's quarterfinals.

Thomas shot 10 of 15 from the field, including 5 for 6 from 3-point range, and went 2 for 4 from the line for the Bears (16-16). Jalyn McCreary scored 14 points, going 6 of 13 and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line. Alex Holt had 11 points and shot 5 of 6 from the field.

Madison Durr finished with 22 points for the Bulldogs (11-21). Elijah Morgan added 18 points for Citadel. Quentin Millora-Brown also had 13 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Mercer took the lead with 11:40 to go in the first half and never looked back. The score was 37-27 at halftime, with McCreary racking up 12 points. Thomas scored 20 points in the second half to help lead Mercer to an eight-point victory.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.