Stitchell, Walters Lead Men's Basketball Down Stretch Vs. ECC Rival Queens
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 11, 2014) – Sophomore Nate Stitchell (Coventry, R.I. / Coventry) and senior P.J. Walters (Hempstead, N.Y. / Wheaton College) took charge down the stretch but the Mercy College men's basketball team could not overcome East Coast Conference rival Queens College as the Knights came away with a 73-69 overtime victory on Saturday afternoon.
Mercy's and Queens' records now stand at an identical 1-12 overall and 1-6 in the ECC.
The game was tight early on as neither team could get much going on offense until Queens managed to score seven unanswered points over a six-minute draught for the Mavericks to take a 16-9 lead at the 8:32 mark.
Mercy was able to tie things up at 20-20 behind nine straight points with 4:18 left in the first half, but Queens responded immediately with eight straight of their own in just over one minute. The Mavericks did manage to trim the deficit to five by halftime, when the Knights led 30-25.
The Knights scored the first 10 points of the second half to build up a 15-point lead, but Walters began to heat up as the Mavericks scored 10 straight of their own, with Walters three-pointers bookending the run. Stitchell then took control, hitting back-to-back treys to cut an eight-point deficit to two at 45-43 with 10:57 on the clock.
Queens went back up by five as the Mavericks were unable to score over the next three minutes, but some hard work down low by freshman Jerry Crismond (Somerdale, N.J. / Sterling) made it a two-point game at 48-46 and just a one-point difference at 50-49 with 5:12 to play. Senior Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y. / St. Mary's) capped off the rally with a game-tying three-pointer at the 3:58 mark to make it 54-54.
The Knights regained a two-point edge on the next possession, but senior LeBrandon Smith (Jamaica, N.Y. / Archbishop Molloy) drew a foul two trips down the court later and sank both free throws to even things up at 56-56 with 3:06 left in the half.
Queens came up with another layup on the next possession, but Smith hit one of two free throws soon after to pull within one and with 55 seconds remaining, Stitchell stepped up and drained the go-ahead three-pointer on an assist from Walters.
Down two at 60-58, Queens hit the game-tying layup with 33 seconds to go. Neither team could score on its subsequent shot, and the rivals headed to overtime.
Mercy had the early edge as Walters drove for a layup off the opening tip, and the Mavericks held the lead through the next two minutes thanks in part to a spectacular dump-off pass by Stitchell for the trailing Smith to dunk on the fast break.
Walters would put Mercy up by a game-high four points with 3:18 to go, but Queens scored the next five points on a three-pointer and layup to take the 66-65 lead with 1:58 remaining. Morrish was able to draw a foul on the next trip down the court and hit both free throws, but another three-pointer for the Knights saw the Mavericks trailing by one yet again with 47 seconds left.
Smith got himself back to the line once again and sank one of his two chances to tie it up at 69-69 with just 24 seconds remaining, but the Knights drew a foul on a last-second drive, hit both free throws and scored off a steal on the inbounds pass to take the game.
The Mavericks outshot the Knights, 45-42 percent from the field, 42-31 percent on three-pointers and 61.3-60.9 percent on free throws, but Queens managed 17 more shots and held a significant edge in rebounding (44-31). Mercy was without senior Olajide Keshinro (Brooklyn, N.Y. / SUNY Cobleskill), who missed the game with an injury.
Stitchell tied his season high with 18 points, including an impressive 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, and dished out four assists. Walters posted his third straight game scoring in double figures with a career-high 16 points, going 5-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep, and filled out his all-around line with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Smith and Morrish rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 and 11 points, respectively, as Smith tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and the Mavericks will continue conference play at LIU Post (9-5, 4-2) on Wednesday, Jan. 15.
