Jennings Scores Game-High 24 Points as Men's Basketball Faces New Haven in 2016-17 Season Opener
Box Score SPARKILL, N.Y. (Nov. 11, 2016) – Despite a game-high 24 points from senior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College), the Mercy College men's basketball team opened its 2016-17 season with a 80-71 setback to University of New Haven in the St. Thomas Aquinas College Tip-Off Classic on Friday night at Aquinas Hall Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (0-1) drop their first season opener under Head Coach Dr. Jody King, while the Chargers (1-0) win their first season opener since the 2011-12 season.
Jennings shot 10-for-22 from the field and added three assists and three rebounds. Junior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University) added 16 points on 4-for-9 shooting from downtown and six rebounds in his debut as a Maverick. Graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y./Dowling College) chipped in nine points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals in his Mercy debut. Junior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) recorded eight points and four rebounds in his first game as a Maverick.
Michael Bourke led New Haven with 18 points, while Mihailo Vasic contributed a double-double by way of 15 points and ten rebounds. Kessly Felizor also finished with a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Mercy opened the contest with five of the first seven points and held an 18-15 lead with 11:58 left in the first half following a Kozul layup. The Chargers followed with a 10-2 run to take a 25-20 lead before sophomore Amir Atkins (Alexandria, Va./Hagerstown CC) and Kozul nailed back-to-back trifectas to give the lead back to the Mavericks at 26-25 with 8:04 left in the opening half.
That would be the final lead of the game for Mercy as New Haven responded with a 10-0 run to take a 35-26 lead with 4:55 remaining in the half. The Mavericks cut the deficit to two, 38-36, with 1:57 left before halftime after a Howard three, but a Darius Roundtree tip-in with 40 seconds left gave the Chargers a 40-36 lead heading into halftime.
The first half saw the Mavericks shoot 40.0 percent (14-for-35) from the floor with seven made threes, while the Chargers shot an efficient 56.7 percent (17-for-30) and held a 25-12 edge on the glass.
The second stanza saw New Haven score the first seven points of the half to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 47-36 with 17:28 remaining, forcing a Mercy timeout. Junior Jefferson Francois (New York, N.Y./Hostos CC) stopped the run with a layup, but the Chargers answered back and increased the lead to 15, 55-40, following a Roundtree three-pointer. The Mavericks battled back and cut the New Haven lead to single digits, 55-46, at the 12:46 mark following a three from Hickey and a three-point play from Jennings.
Mercy trimmed the deficit to six, 61-55, after a Jennings layup with 8:42 left, but the Chargers would follow with 11 consecutive points to take their largest lead of the game, 72-55, with 4:08 remaining. The deficit proved too much to overcome for the Mavericks and New Haven came away with the season-opening win.
Mercy shot 40.9 percent (27-for-66) from the field and 29.0 percent (9-for-31) from downtown. New Haven shot a strong 52.5 percent (32-for-61) from the floor and 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from beyond the arc. The Chargers held a 46-29 advantage on the boards and a 30-12 edge in bench points.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to pick up their first win of the season when they resume action tomorrow against Saint Michael's at 5:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
