Men's Basketball Knocks Off ECC Foe UDC in Thriller, 69-66
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 30, 2014) – The Mercy College men's basketball team led from wire to wire playing host to East Coast Conference foe the University of the District of Columbia on Thursday night, defending Mercy Gymnasium in a 69-66 victory.
Mercy improves to 2-17 overall and 2-11 in the ECC while UDC is now 3-13 (1-9).
Junior Terrance Murchie (Franklin Square, N.Y. / H. Frank Carey) led the Mavericks with a career-high 15 points (3-of-7 beyond the arc) while senior P.J. Walters (Hempstead, N.Y. / Wheaton College), sophomore Daniel Pierrot (New York, N.Y. / Adelphi Univ.) and senior Kirk Bailey (Freeport, N.Y. / St. Mary's) joined him in double figures with 14, 13 and 10 points, respectively. Bailey added 10 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season as Pierrot tied for the team lead in both steals (three) and blocks (two) and senior Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y. / St. Mary's) led a backcourt trio of himself, Walters and junior Jordan Lessane (Mount Vernon, N.Y. / Mount Vernon) that combined for 12 assists without a single turnover, dishing out seven on his own.
Mercy dominated the ball control battle, dishing out 12 assists against only seven turnovers, which led to a whopping 19-shot advantage over the game.
The Mavericks came out firing on all cylinders, playing some of their best ball of the season as they jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the opening seven minutes. After a trey and pair of free throws from the Firebirds cut the margin to four, senior Olajide Keshinro (Brooklyn, N.Y. / SUNY Cobleskill) grabbed offensive rebounds and went back up for back-to-back and-one chances, converting on the second to push Mercy back out to a seven-point lead.
UDC pulled within a basket at 22-20 with 5:24 left in the first half, but Lessane stepped up to sink consecutive fast break layups and kick-start a Mavericks run of eight unanswered points in two minutes to put Mercy up, 30-20, with 2:50 on the clock. Walters and Pierrot capped the streak with back-to-back hard-nosed drives to the hoop.
The Firebirds cut the deficit to seven with 38 seconds left, but Bailey responded on the Mavericks' final possession, converting an and-one opportunity to take his team into the break with a 10-point lead at 37-27.
Murchie fired the Mavericks to a 13-point lead 14 seconds into the second half on a three-pointer and after a UDC trey at the 15:08 mark extended the lead to a game-high 15 at 52-37 on another Murchie three followed by a Bailey layup with 13:11 to go.
Mercy held the double-digit lead over the next five minutes until a 10-2 UDC run brought the Firebirds within seven at 54-47 with 8:22 to play. Sophomore Nate Stitchell (Coventry, R.I. / Coventry) stopped the run with a pull-up three-pointer, but the Mavericks would go scoreless over the next six minutes as the Firebirds soon made it a two-point game on a fast break and-one conversion at 57-55 with 2:46 remaining.
A Bailey layup and pair of free throws by Walters gave Mercy some breathing room at 60-55 with 2:09 left in the game, but once again Morrish hit the big shot, carrying the Mavericks out to a 63-56 lead with 1:24 remaining.
The game was far from over, as UDC began fouling to slow the clock and send Mercy to the line. Pierrot and Walters made sure to keep it a multi-basket game, but a foul on a three-pointer allowed UDC to hit three free throws and pull within a basket at 66-63 with 16 seconds remaining.
Walters was sent to the line and hit his first free throw before taking the Firebirds rebounders by surprise, leaving his second short and grabbing the offensive rebound. He was unable to convert the layup, however, and the Firebirds got a huge three-pointer in transition to make it a one-point game with seven seconds on the clock.
Needing only to get the ball inbounds, hit their free throws and make a stop, the Mavericks did just that, as Murchie broke free to receive the inbound pass and managed to hold it until just two seconds remained, then capped his career night by hitting both free throws as Mercy held on for the victory.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and the Mavericks will enjoy a near-week respite as they host conference-leading Dowling College (16-4, 10-2) on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
