Bailey, Morrish Cap Careers with Classic 87-85 OT Win Over Roberts Wesleyan
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 28, 2014) – Seniors Kirk Bailey (Freeport, N.Y. / St. Mary's) and Chaz Morrish (Douglaston, N.Y. / St. Mary's) capped their decorated careers as the core of Head Coach Adam Parmenter's first recruiting class with a classic overtime victory over East Coast Conference foe Roberts Wesleyan College on Friday night.
Mercy ends the season with a 3-23 overall record and 3-17 in the ECC while Roberts Wesleyan is now 11-13 (7-11).
Senior Trifton Rose (Yonkers, N.Y. / Gorton) got the Mavericks started with their first five points to take a 5-2 lead at the 17:42 mark. He would go on to score nine in the first half, including a three-pointer to cap four consecutive treys by Mercy that extended the lead to 19-8 with 14:16 on the clock.
Senior Olajide Keshinro (Brooklyn, N.Y. / SUNY Cobleskill) tacked on the Mavericks' next six points to retain the lead at 25-20 with 9:55 left in the half. The Redhawks kept pace over the next minute, when they trailed by five at 29-24. Mercy went on to outscore RWC 18-12 to close out the half with an 11-point lead at the break, 47-36.
The Mavericks did not let up as the second half got underway, quickly stretching out to a 13-point lead at 51-38 with 17:08 to go and going up by as many as 17 points at 61-44 with 12:04 remaining.
Roberts Wesleyan had plenty of fight left, however, and began to chip away at the lead. William Bromirski scored eight straight points over two minutes to cut the margin to seven, hit two free throws with 1:04 left to make it a one-point game and finally sent the Redhawks ahead on a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining.
Down two at 75-73, the Morrish, who had hit several clutch shots down the stretch to retain the lead, hoisted up a trey with 13 seconds to go that was off the mark, but Bailey came down with the offensive rebound and drew a foul to go to the line with a chance to tie the game. He sank the first free throw and shook off a Redhawks timeout to sink the second and send the game to overtime as a last-ditch Redhawks three fell short.
The Redhawks struck first in overtime, but junior Terrance Murchie (Franklin Square, N.Y. / H. Frank Carey) responded with a floater on the other end and Keshinro sank a free throw on the next possession to give Mercy the lead. Bailey made it 80-77 with 3:14 left in the extra period, but Roberts Wesleyan went ahead on a layup and three-pointer with 2:28 to go.
Bailey came up huge again for Mercy, grabbing another offensive rebound and stepping to the line, where he sank a free throw to pull within one point at 82-81 with 2:03 left. He then came up with a steal in the corner on the defensive end and Murchie went to the charity stripe on the ensuing possession, where he coolly sank both free throws to retake the lead, 83-82 with 1:25 remaining.
Bailey went to the line on the next Mavericks possession and hit both three throws to extend the lead to three at 85-82, which proved to be essential as Bromirski came up with another trey to tie the game at 85-85 with 55 seconds remaining.
Mercy missed a chance on the offensive end but forced a turnover on defense to get the ball with 34 seconds to play. Murchie's jumper with 12 seconds left fell short, but Bailey was once again ready under the basket and hit the putback to give Mercy the lead with nine seconds remaining. He did not convert the and-one opportunity, but the Redhawks' last-gasp effort was off the mark and the victory was in the books.
Bailey and Morrish ended their eight-year run as teammates through high school with two of the best performances of their careers; Bailey posted his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds (seven offensive) while Morrish poured in a team-high 18 points, including going 4-of-8 on three-pointers. Keshinro added his 10th double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds to go with four blocks as Murchie, senior P.J. Walters (Hempstead, N.Y. / Wheaton College) and sophomore Daniel Pierrot (New York, N.Y. / Adelphi Univ.) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12, 10 and 10 points, respectively.
Congratulations to Kirk, Chaz, Olajide, Trifton and P.J. on completing their careers!
