Men's Basketball Earns Victory Over Conference-Foe St. Thomas Aquinas, 89-80
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 21, 2012) – The Mercy College men's basketball squad picked up its first win in the East Coast Conference when it trumped St. Thomas Aquinas College, 89-80, at Mercy Gymnasium in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. With the win, the Mavericks improved to 2-15 overall and 1-6 in the ECC. Following the defeat, the Spartans fell to 7-9 on the year and 3-4 in the league.
The entire duration of the first half saw each team possess a lead of no more than five points. Both clubs matched basket for basket as the nearby rivals tried to grab an advantage heading into the intermission. Mercy earned that as the Mavericks led 32-30 at halftime.
The story of the second stanza was runs that both teams could not sustain. The Mavericks fired off 11 consecutive points to take a 43-30 lead over the first four minutes. Junior guard Colin Senior (Hackensack, N.J.) knocked down two three-pointers and sophomore forward Jordan Lee (Englewood, N.J.) scored the other five points.
Six minutes later, Mercy held on to an 11-point lead (11:15 left). Then, STAC unleashed its run to counter Mercy's previous one. The Spartans notched a 12-1 burst to cut their deficit to just one point (59-58, 7:56 remaining). The would end up being the closest St. Thomas Aquinas would get to tying up the game as the Mavericks locked down the 89-80 victory.
For Mercy, Senior had a game-high and season-high 26 points, while Lee and junior forward Joseph Pope (Akron, Ohio) contributed 13 points each. Sophomore guards Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y.) and Romaine Wall (Hackensack, N.J.) scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
This win was the first one for the Mavericks against St. Thomas Aquinas since January 17, 2005. In that contest, Mercy won 58-53.
For STAC, junior guard Justin Brown (Uniondale, N.Y.) notched 19 points, while sophomore forward Omar Kellman (Bronx, N.Y.) had 18.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and the Mavericks return to action when they travel to Oakdale, Long Island on Wednesday to square off against ECC-opponent Dowling College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
