Hickey Scores Team-High 13 Points as Men's Basketball Visits Bridgeport
Box Score BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Dec. 3, 2016) – Despite a team-high 13 points from graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y./Dowling College), the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered an 89-71 setback to University of Bridgeport in an ECC matchup on Saturday afternoon at Hubbell Gym.
The Mavericks (1-8, 0-2 ECC) have now dropped seven games in a row, while the Purple Knights (6-2, 2-0 ECC) have won four in a row.
Hickey added four rebounds and made two threes, while sophomore Amir Atkins (Alexandria, Va./Hagerstown CC) scored a season-high 11 points with four rebounds. Junior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) rounded out three Mavericks scoring in double figures with ten points to go along with six rebounds and four blocks.
Bridgeport was led by Kyle Benjamin who had a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds.
Mercy opened up the contest with the first four points on back-to-back baskets from Howard and senior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College). The Purple Knights answered with a 7-0 run to take a 7-4 lead at the 15:20 mark. Bridgeport held a 19-16 lead with 8:32 left in the half before the Mavericks battled back and went on an 11-3 run to take their largest lead of the game, 27-22, with 2:43 left before halftime.
The Purple Knights ended the half on a 7-0 run, capped off by a Bakary Camara layup at the buzzer, to give Bridgeport a 29-27 lead at the break.
Bridgeport came out in the second half and scored the first six points to build the lead to, 35-27, with 18:32 remaining. Hickey answered with a three to make it 35-30, ending a Purple Knights 13-0 run spanning from the first half.
However, that would be the closest Mercy could get as the hosts followed with a 40-17 run over 13 minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 75-47, with 5:42 left in the contest. Bridgeport would hold on as the Mavericks shot just 27.8 percent in the second half compared to 64.5 percent by the Purple Knights.
Mercy shot 35.7 percent (20-for-56) from the floor, 28.6 percent (6-for-21) from downtown and 80.6 percent (25-for-31) from the foul line. Bridgeport shot 55.0 percent (33-for-60) from the floor, 18.2 percent (2-for-11) from beyond the arc and 72.4 percent (21-for-29) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 38-33 edge on the glass, but the Mavericks committed 29 turnovers which led to Bridgeport holding a 35-20 advantage in points off turnovers. The Purple Knights also held a 58-24 edge in points in the paint.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks are back in action on Thursday, December 8th when they play at Georgian Court at 7 p.m.
