Men's Basketball Battles St. Thomas Aquinas Valiantly in ECC Action
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 12, 2013) - On Saturday afternoon, the Mercy College men's basketball team fought tooth-and-nail against the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College in East Coast Conference action falling in a heartbreaker, 79-75 at the Mercy Gymnasium in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. With the victory, the Spartans improved to 3-10 overall and 3-2 in the league. Following the defeat, the Mavericks slipped to 1-12 on the season and 0-5 in the conference.
Down 21-15 with 11:55 left in the opening quarter, the Mavericks reeled off an 8-4 run to close the gap to 25-22. At 7:04, junior forward Kirk Bailey (Freeport, N.Y.) was able to find the equalizer as his lay-up knotted the score at 28-all.
With 2:52 remaining before halftime, junior Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y.) hit a jump shot to pull Mercy within one point (33-32). Thirty seconds later, sophomore Terrance Murchie (Franklin Square, N.Y.) drove in a lay-up to give the Mavericks their first lead of the contest.
Sean James of the Spartans answered back 15 seconds later with a three-pointer, but Murchie was able to grab those points right back as he converted from behind the arc a few moments later. Mercy took a 44-40 lead into the intermission.
At the open of the second stanza, the Spartans climbed back to tie the game and eventually took the lead. At 8:49, James tied the game up for STAC as he nailed a three-pointer to turn the score, 61-61. The Spartans were then able to build up a seven-point lead a few minutes later.
The Mavericks hit a few free throws down the stretch and got a couple of crucial jumpers and lay-ups to fall in. They came to within two points of tying the match late, but their comeback came up short as the Spartans were able to cling on to the 79-75 lead for the win.
For the Mavericks, senior forward Joseph Pope (Akron, Ohio) finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Bailey had 13 points. Junior center Kendall Felix (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had a solid game with six points and seven rebounds.
For the Spartans, Justin Brown had a game-best 27 points, while Omar Kellman scored 16 and grabbed 14 boards.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and his team gets back on the hardwood on Wednesday, Jan. 16 when they travel to Long Island to square off against LIU Post at 7:30 p.m.
