Lyles Pours in Game-High 23 Points as Men's Basketball Defeats Felician
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 18, 2014) – Powered by a game-high 23 points from junior Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tompkins Cortland CC) and 17 points from junior Jeremiah Brown (Queens Bridge, N.Y./Hostos CC), the Mercy College men's basketball team defeated Felician College, 70-63, on Thursday evening at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (4-4) snap a four-game losing streak and surpass their win total from all of last year, while Felician (0-10) remains winless on the season.
Mercy got off to a strong start in front of the home crowd, taking a 17-13 lead at the 10:07 mark on a trifecta by Brown. However, the guests would respond with a 16-5 run to take their largest lead of the half at 29-22 with 6:54 left in the frame.
Another triple from Brown, five points from Lyles and a layup from junior Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) helped the Mavericks cut the lead to one, 33-32, with just over a minute left before the intermission. The Golden Falcons would end the half on a 3-0 run to head into the break up 36-32.
Mercy was able to stay in the contest despite Felician shooting 48.0 percent from the field compared to 34.3 percent for the Mavericks as they were aided by an 18-15 edge on the glass and forced 12 Golden Falcon turnovers.
Lyles started the second half with a bang, connecting on a trey less than a minute into the half that got the Mavericks within one again at 36-35. Mercy was within a basket on multiple occasions but couldn't break through as the visitors built the lead up to 50-41 with 11:49 left to play.
With the prospects of a five-game losing streak coming to fruition, the Mavericks dug deep and responded with nine unanswered as graduate student Terrance Murchie (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) nailed a pair of threes and Lyles connected on another to tie the game at 50-50 with just under nine minutes remaining.
Felician responded once again and built the lead back up to five, 59-54, with 4:21 left to play and it looked like the Mavericks may lose their second straight home game.
Mercy had other ideas as they went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good at 65-59 with 43 seconds left to play. Aiding the run was four free throws from Brown, back-to-back layups from junior Joshua Thompson (Chester, Pa./Globe Institute) and a triple from Lyles.
The Mavericks would seal the win at the charity stripe and end their four-game losing streak.
Neither team shot the ball well in the shot half as Felician hit 37.5 percent of their attempts and Mercy made only 35.5 percent of their field goals. The Mavericks were able though to force 14 Golden Falcon second half turnovers while committing only five of their own.
Felician managed to outshoot (42.9 percent to 34.8 percent) the Mavericks and maintained a 40-39 edge on the glass. However, Mercy forced 26 Golden Falcon turnovers and turned it into a 26-7 edge in points off turnovers. A 15-8 edge on the offensive glass for Mercy turned into a 17-8 margin in 2nd chance points.
Lyles ended with five three-pointers on the night and had six rebounds and a game-high five steals. Brown went 4-for-10 from the field and 7-for-9 from the line. Murchie concluded the evening with 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting and Thompson nearly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds. Freshman Matthew Boyd (Hempstead, N.Y./Half Hallow Hills East) continued his strong play, dishing out a game-high seven assists and McClease capped off the evening with six points and a team-high nine rebounds.
J.R. Pringley scored a team-high 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting to lead Felician.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to continue their winning ways as they travel to Queens College for an ECC matchup on Saturday, December 20th at 2 p.m.
