Rose Plants a Three at the Buzzer to Give Men's Basketball a 73-72 Victory Over Georgian Court
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 4, 2016) – Junior K.J. Rose (Binghamton, N.Y./Fairfield University) nailed a game-winning three-pointer as time expired to lead the Mercy College men's basketball to a dramatic 73-72 victory over Georgian Court University in their first game of the New Year on Monday night at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (4-4) have now won three in a row and have a three-game winning streak in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. The win also marks the first time Mercy has been .500 or better in the month of January since 2004. Mercy has now defeated the Lions (2-11) in back-to-back seasons, who have now lost six in a row.
Junior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) led the Mavericks in scoring on the night with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and dished out four assists. Senior Laz Martinez (Harlem, N.Y./Mohawk Valley CC) tallied 14 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe and added five boards. Senior Shaquille Stokes (Harlem, N.Y./College of Saint Rose) put up 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Rose chipped in 10 points and six assists.
Georgian Court was led by Michael Pierre who scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
In a contest that featured seven ties and 11 lead changes, the Mavericks would need late game heroics to improve to .500 on the year.
After the visitors built a 11-10 lead at the 15:36 mark of the first half, Mercy responded with a 13-4 run to take their largest lead of the game at 23-15 with 12:11 left before half after a Stokes trifecta.
The Lions came right back with an 18-2 run over the next seven minutes to build their largest advantage of the contest at 33-25 with 5:36 remaining before half. Georgian Court maintained a 38-30 margin with 2:31 left before the Mavericks closed the frame on a 7-2 run to head into the locker rooms only down three, 40-37.
Mercy jumped out of the break on a 12-4 run to take a 49-44 lead following a Rose triple at the 15:03 mark. A Jennings three-pointer increased the lead back up to seven, 52-45, and the Mavericks looked to be pulling away. However, the Lions had other plans as they followed with a 16-8 run to take their first lead since the 17:02 mark of the period.
The Lions held a 70-66 lead with 1:11 left and looked to be on the verge of stealing a win on the road. Following a pair of missed free throws by Georgian Court with 55 seconds left, senior Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) was fouled on the ensuing Mavericks possession and nailed a pair at the free throw line to cut the deficit to two, 70-68, with 38 seconds left.
Mercy tightened up the defense on the next Lions trip and forced a turnover which would lead to a Martinez layup to even things up at 70-70 with 28 seconds left. After a Mavericks timeout, Georgian Court held for what they thought was the last shot with Pierre coming through with a layup with three seconds left to put the Lions up 72-70.
However, three seconds proved too much for Rose who dribbled down the court and drained a trifecta with a defender in his face as time expired to give the Mavericks an improbable last-second win.
Mercy shot 34.8 percent (23-of-66) from the floor compared to 52.8 percent (28-of-53) for the visitors, but were able to shoot an impressive 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) from the free throw line compared to 10-of-16 by the Lions. Georgian Court held a 41-32 edge on the glass but the Mavericks were able to turn 20 Lions turnovers into a 22-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to extend their win streak to four as they travel upstate to take on Roberts Wesleyan on Friday, January 8th at 8 p.m.
