Kozul Records Game-High 22 Points as Men's Basketball Earns 68-57 Victory Over Georgian Court
Box Score LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2016) – Powered by a season-high 22 points from junior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University), the Mercy College men's basketball team earned a 68-57 victory over Georgian Court University on Thursday night at the Georgian Court Wellness Center.
The Mavericks (2-8) snap a seven-game losing streak with the win and have won two or more games by December 15th for the third straight year under Head Coach Dr. Jody King. Prior to King's arrival Mercy last won two games prior to December 15th during the 2007-08 season. The 57 points allowed are the fewest the Mavericks have allowed since King's debut on November 14, 2014 when Mercy earned a 56-45 victory over Nyack. The Mavericks defeat the Lions (1-9) for the third straight year.
Kozul reached a game high in points on 7-for-10 shooting and 4-for-5 shooting from downtown. Graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y./Dowling College) added 15 points and junior Jefferson Francois (New York, N.Y./Hostos CC) ended the contest with ten points and seven rebounds. Senior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) contributed eight points and five rebounds and senior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) netted seven points, six rebounds and six assists.
Georgian Court was led by Juwuan Carter who had a team-high 15 points, while Luka Zgonjanin nearly recorded a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Mercy opened up the contest with the first three points before the hosts followed with an 11-1 run to take their largest lead of the game, 11-4, with 13:13 left in the first half. The Mavericks responded with a 16-9 run to tie the game up at 20-20 following a Hickey trifecta at the 8:42 mark.
Georgian Court increased the lead back to five, 27-22, with 2:25 left in the opening half before Mercy closed the half on a 6-2 run to head into halftime down just one point, 29-28.
Hickey opened the second stanza with a three to give the Mavericks a 31-29 lead just nine seconds into the period. Mercy built the lead up to five, 40-35, after a Kozul layup before the Lions came back with five unanswered to tie the game up at 40-40 with 10:09 left to play. The Mavericks showed some resilience and would come right back with a 21-3 run to take their largest lead of the game, 61-43, with 3:34 remaining.
Georgian Court trimmed the Mercy lead to 11, 61-50, with 2:05 left, but that would be the closest they could get as the Mavericks held on for the victory.
Mercy shot 36.2 percent (17-for-47) from the field, 38.1 percent (8-for-21) from three and 61.9 percent (26-for-42) from the foul line. Georgian Court shot 42.6 percent (23-for-54) from the floor, 20.0 percent (4-for-20) from beyond the arc and 63.6 percent (7-for-11) from the line. The Lions held a 35-33 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, December 14th when they host LIU Post at Westchester Community College at 7:30 p.m.
