All 12 Mavericks Score as Men's Basketball Hosts St. Thomas Aquinas
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 12, 2016) – Despite all 12 Mavericks scoring, the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered an 88-67 setback to St. Thomas Aquinas College in an East Coast Conference (ECC) tilt on Tuesday night at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (4-7, 2-5 ECC) have now dropped three games in a row after their three-game winning streak, while the Spartans (11-4, 5-2 ECC) have now won five in a row with four of the five wins coming by 19 or more points.
Senior Shaquille Stokes (Harlem, N.Y./College of Saint Rose) led the way for Mercy with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Junior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) nearly recorded a double-double, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes. Junior Isaiah Cosbert (Queens, N.Y./Sullivan CC) and senior Joshua Thompson (Chester, Pa./Globe Institute) scored eight points apiece as the Mavericks bench put up 40 points on the night.
Leading St. Thomas Aquinas was ECC Preseason Player of the Year Chaz Watler who scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
The Mavericks faced a tall task taking on a Spartans squad that was picked No. 2 in the ECC Preseason Poll and was playing its best basketball of the season.
A Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) three-pointer at the 19:24 mark of the first half gave the Mavericks their first and only lead of the night at 3-2 as St. Thomas Aquinas immediately responded with a 14-5 run over the next eight minutes to take a 16-8 lead that they would not relinquish.
Mercy remained within striking distance for the remainder of the half and cut the deficit to three, 18-15, following a pair of Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) free throws with 8:37 left in the frame. The Spartans ensued with a 16-7 run over the final eight minutes that gave them their largest lead of the half, 34-22, with 10 seconds left. Senior Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tompkins Cortland CC) connected on a layup with four seconds on the clock to send the Mavericks into halftime down ten, 34-24.
The first half saw Mercy struggle from the field, going only 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from the floor but were able to stay in the contest by going 11-of-19 from the charity stripe.
Robinson came out and got the Mavericks on the board first in the second half to cut the deficit to single digits, 34-26, and it looked like Mercy may be turning the tide on the Spartans. However, St. Thomas Aquinas came back and showed why they are one of the top teams in the ECC as they followed with an 18-5 run to increase the lead to 21, 52-31, with 14:35 left.
The Spartans built the lead to a game-high 29 points, 64-35, with 11:39 remaining, but instead of giving up the Mavericks put together a 22-7 run over the next five minutes to get back into the game at 71-57 with six minutes left.
St. Thomas Aquinas immediately answered with an 11-2 run to increase the lead back to 23, 82-59, with 3:14 left and cruised the rest of the way to the victory.
The Mavericks upped their shooting to 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the second half to finish at 34.0 percent (18-of-53) but were undone by the Spartans connecting on 59.0 percent (23-of-39) in the second stanza as they shot 52.2 percent (35-of-67) overall. St. Thomas Aquinas maintained a 40-37 edge on the glass and held a 23-6 advantage in second chance points. Mercy went 27-of-38 (71.1 percent) from the free throw line compared to 14-of-23 for the guests.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to bounce back as they travel to Felician on Thursday, January 14th for a 7 p.m. start.
