Keshinro Paces Men's Basketball at ECC RIval Queens
Box Score FLUSHING, N.Y. (Feb. 17, 2014) – Senior Olajide Keshinro (Brooklyn, N.Y. / SUNY Cobleskill) led the Mavericks with his 12th double-figure scoring game as the Mercy College men's basketball team took on East Coast Conference rival Queens College on Monday night.
A late rally was not enough for the Mavericks as they fell by four points despite shooting a season-high 91 percent from the free throw line. Mercy is now 2-21 overall and 2-15 in the ECC while Queens improves to 6-17 (6-11).
Senior P.J. Walters (Hempstead, N.Y. / Wheaton College) fired the Mavericks to an early lead with a three-pointer on the first possession and junior Terrance Murchie (Franklin Square, N.Y. / H. Frank Carey) stretched it out to 7-2 at the 15:42 mark on a pair of jumpers.
Queens tied the game at 7-7 one minute later but again Murchie made it a five-point margin with a trey at 13:19. The Knights would tie things up two more times before finally taking the lead as the Mavericks struggled over a five-minute period in which they converted just a pair of free throws.
The Knights held the edge until just before halftime, when Mercy hit three jumpers in the final two minutes to take a one-point lead at 34-33.
Queens regained the lead with a pair of early free throws, but another Murchie trey gave Mercy back the edge with 17:53 on the clock. After a brief Knights lead the Mavericks held an edge to the 13:14 mark, when seven unanswered points saw the hosts back in front, 50-45 with 11:57 remaining.
The Knights would extend the margin to as many as 12 points before a late 12-2 Mavericks rally including a Keshinro dunk made it a one-basket game at 70-67 with eight seconds remaining. Queens went on to hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game and held on for the 71-67 victory.
Keshinro led the Mavericks with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 at the charity stripe and added four blocks while Murchie was close behind with 16 points. Senior Kirk Bailey (Freeport, N.Y. / St. Mary's) also scored in double figures with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting while leading the team with eight rebounds. Walters, senior Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y. / St. Mary's) and sophomore Nate Stitchell (Coventry, R.I. / Coventry) combined to dish out 13 assists, with Stitchell adding a squad-high three steals.
Head Coach Adam Parmenter and the Mavericks will host LIU Post (14-10, 9-7) on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
