Five Score In Double Figures as Men's Basketball Puts Scare Into First Place Daemen
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 17, 2015) – Despite five Mavericks scoring in double figures and nearly overcoming a 17-point deficit in the second half, the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered a 90-80 defeat at the hands of East Coast Conference foe Daemen College on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (6-7, 1-6 ECC) have now lost three straight, while the Wildcats (11-4, 6-1 ECC) remain in first place in the ECC and have won five of their last six games.
Leading Mercy in scoring was sophomore Najee Senior (Bronx, N.Y./Western Okla. State College) who put up 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and also brought down seven boards. Junior Jeremiah Brown (Queens Bridge, N.Y./Hostos CC) dropped in 16 points, all coming in the second half, on 4-of-6 shooting and added two boards.
Junior Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) chipped in with 14 points and seven caroms, while fellow junior Lazaro Martinez (Harlem, N.Y./Mohawk Valley CC) tallied 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The fifth Maverick to reach double figures was junior Jason Quijada (Monsey, N.Y./Rockland CC) who had 12 points and three assists.
Gerald Beverly led Daemen with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
Mercy got off to another slow start as the visitors got out to a 21-13 lead at the 11:46 mark of the opening half. The Mavericks as they did last night would respond with a run and this one was a 13-3 run that was capped off by a pair of free throws from McClease that gave Mercy a 26-24 lead with just over seven minutes left before intermission.
The two teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the half and the Mavericks headed into the break with a 42-41 lead over the first place Wildcats, ending the period on an 8-4 run after trailing 37-34 with 2:36 left.
The start of the second stanza saw Daemen demonstrate why they are in first place as they opened the half on an 11-4 run to take back the lead at 52-46 with 15:34 left in regulation. Following a Joshua Thompson (Chester, Pa./Globe Institute) free throw that cut the deficit to five, 52-47, the Wildcats would respond with a 19-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, 71-54, with 8:19 remaining.
However, the Mavericks would not go down easily and began to chip away at the lead as Brown started to heat up scoring 14 points as Mercy went on a 24-12 run over the next six minutes to get within five, 83-78, following a Senior triple to put a scare into Daemen at the 2:01 mark.
A layup by Beverly on the Wildcats' next possession put them back up seven, 85-78, with 1:27 left. The Mavericks would have a couple of opportunities to cut into the lead again but were unable to convert and a layup by Kyle Clifford with 47 seconds on the clock put the game out of reach at 87-78 as the visitors outscored Mercy 7-2 to end the game following the Senior trifecta.
Another strong shooting night helped the Mavericks stay in the game as they shot 46.7 percent from the floor, but were unable to contain the Wildcats as they shot an efficient 50.8 percent from the field. Daemen also held a 41-30 edge on the glass and controlled the paint finishing with a 44-32 edge in points in the paint.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to bounce back as they travel to Queens on Monday, January 19th for the completion of their suspended game against the Knights that started on December 20th. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
