Five Score in Double Figures as Men's Basketball Sweeps Season Series With Queens For First Time Since 2007-08
Box Score QUEENS, N.Y. (Jan. 30, 2016) – Powered by five Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team swept the season series with Queens College for the first time since the 2007-08 season with an 82-66 victory on Saturday afternoon in an East Coast Conference (ECC) matchup at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (7-9, 5-6 ECC) are off to their best 16-game start since the 2000-01 season and have five conference wins before the end of January for the first time since the 2007-08 season. With the win, Mercy moves into a tie for the sixth and final playoff spot with Dowling who is in action later today. The Mavericks currently hold the tiebreaker with the Golden Lions after defeating them on January 20th. The 5-6 start in conference play is the best since the 2004-05 season and Mercy wins at Queens (5-11, 3-8 ECC) for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Leading the way for the Mavericks was senior Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tompkins Cortland CC) who had 20 points and nine rebounds. Lyles, who saw his season come to an end at Queens a year ago due to a serious injury, had one of his best games of the season, shooting 8-of-17 from the field while adding three assists. Junior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) also just missed a double-double ending the afternoon with 20 points and nine rebounds. Junior K.J. Rose (Binghamton, N.Y./Fairfield University) picked up his second double-double of the year by way of 12 points and 10 rebounds and added a team-high four assists. Senior Jason Quijada (Monsey, N.Y./Rockland CC) chipped in a season-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and junior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) rounded out five scoring in double figures with 10 points.
Queens was paced by Mohamed Dansoko who scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
After dropping a tough contest to Molloy on Wednesday night, the Mavericks looked to do something that they had not done in eight years. The first matchup between the two teams on December 12th saw Mercy overcome a double-digit deficit to defeat the Knights. However, today the Mavericks did not need late game heroics as they led throughout en route to their fifth ECC win.
Queens jumped out to an early 7-4 lead at 16:24 following a Diego Maldonado dunk and Mercy looked to have their hands full once again. The Mavericks would show that this was a different day and immediately responded with an 11-0 run to take a 15-7 lead with 11:08 left in the first half and did not trail again.
A Quijada trifecta at the 7:29 mark increased the lead to 22-11, but the Knights cut it right back to six, 22-16, with 6:32 left in the opening stanza. Mercy closed the period on a 16-8 run, capped off by a Quijada jumper with three seconds left, to head into the locker rooms up 38-24.
The Mavericks built their halftime lead due to one of their best defensive performances of the season as they held Queens to just 34.6 percent (9-of-26) shooting in the half and held a 27-18 edge on the glass.
Dansoko opened the scoring in the second half to cut the Knights deficit to 12, 38-26, but Mercy ensued with a 13-7 run to increase the lead to 18, 51-33, with 13:45 left after a Lyles triple. Queens cut the Mavericks lead to 12, 62-50, with 6:22 left but the Mavericks once again had an answer as they came back on an 8-0 run to push the lead to 20, 70-50, with 5:05 left.
Following a pair of Rose free throws at the 3:38 mark, Mercy held a game-high lead of 23 points, 76-53. The Knights tried to make a late run but time ran out and the Mavericks walked away with an impressive 16-point road victory.
Mercy shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) from the floor, while Queens connected on 43.3 percent (26-of-60) of their attempts. The Mavericks held a 47-34 edge on the boards which they turned into a 20-10 advantage in second chance points.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks resume play on Wednesday, February 3rd as they host LIU Post at the Westchester County Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
