The
1976-77 and 1977-78 Mercy College men’s basketball teams, who were coached by fellow 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Flower, were two of the most successful squads in program history.
In the 1976-77 campaign, Mercy finished 17-10, which was good for a .630 winning percentage. The team averaged a remarkable 103.5 points per game that season, and led all of Division III in scoring. During that season, Brian Donohue and Tom Sivulich combined for an incredible 984 points. Donohue averaged 23.3 points per game, while Sivulich had a points-per-contest average of 18.4 as a freshman. Ranking third on the squad with Wilbert Beach, who scored 397 points (15.9/game), while leading the club in the rebounding department with 199. In an incredible effort, Donohue scored 45 points in one game versus St. Thomas Aquinas.
The second half of this tandem getting inducted, the 1977-78 squad, recorded a 16-10 ledger (.615 winning percentage). Keeping in tune with the previous season, the Flyers averaged 100.2 points per contest, which led all three NCAA divisions. That year, Donohue went on to score 501 points in his senior season, while Beach and Frank Bailey combined for 851 points. Bailey was stellar on the boards as well, grabbing 324 rebounds.
These two teams’ win totals of 17 and 16 rank second and third, respectively, in program history.
In addition to Head Coach Joe Flower getting into the Hall this year, two members of the 1976-77 and 1977-78 teams already reside in the Hall: Tom Sivulich ‘80 (HOF ‘11) and Brian Donohue ‘78 (HOF ‘09). Both Sivulich and Donohue scored over 1,000 points in their career.
