Stokes Drops in Team-High 17 Points as Men's Basketball Hosts Daemen
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 13, 2016) – Despite a team-high 17 points from senior Shaquille Stokes (Harlem, N.Y./College of Saint Rose), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped an, 100-86, decision to Daemen College in an East Coast Conference (ECC) matchup on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (11-10, 8-7 ECC) see their season-high five-game winning streak come to an end, but remain two games ahead of Dowling for the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot. The Wildcats (15-7, 11-4 ECC) bounce back from a tough loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday and have won ten of their last 11 games.
Stokes also contributed five rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes, while senior Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) tallied a season-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Junior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) chipped in 15 points and junior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) rounded out four scoring in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Torrence Dyck led five scoring in double figures for the visitors with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Mercy entered today's contest looking to make a statement against one of the top teams in ECC. However, the Wildcats came out motivated following their tough loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday and pulled away for the victory.
Daemen got off to a strong start as Dyck scored the first seven points for the Wildcats to give them a 7-2 lead at the 16:04 mark. A Robinson layup got the Mavericks within four, 10-6, but the guests responded with an 11-2 run to take a 21-8 lead with 12:38 left in the first half, forcing a Mercy timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Mavericks came back with a 12-2 run to get within three, 23-20, following a McClease layup at the 9:37 mark. Daemen ensued with a 24-9 run over the next eight minutes to take their largest lead of the half, 47-29, with 1:18 on the clock.
Back-to-back trifectas from senior Jason Quijada (Monsey, N.Y./Rockland CC) got the Mavericks back within 12, 47-35, but a Jaleo Wilkes layup with nine seconds left gave the Wildcats a 49-35 lead at the break.
Mercy came out strong in the second half, beginning the period on a 10-2 run to get within six, 51-45, with 15:21 remaining. A Deion Hamilton layup at the 14:04 mark increased the Daemen lead back to 10, 57-47, but the Mavericks followed with a 13-6 run over the next four minutes to get back within striking distance at 63-60 with 10:46 left after a Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tompkins Cortland CC) jumper.
The Mavericks looked to be on the verge of overcoming another deficit, but the Wildcats ended any threat of a comeback with an 8-1 run to get the lead back to 10, 71-61, with 8:13 left. Senior Lazaro Martinez nailed a three-pointer at the 7:16 mark to make the score 71-65 in favor of the visitors, but Daemen put the game away with a 21-8 run that made the score 92-73 with 1:57 left. The deficit proved too much for Mercy to overcome and the Wildcats emerged victorious.
The Mavericks shot 40.2 percent (33-of-82) from the floor, while the Wildcats shot 51.5 percent (34-of-66). Daemen held a 42-41 edge on the boards and went 26-of-29 (89.7 percent) from the charity stripe compared to 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) by Mercy.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to bounce back as they travel to St. Thomas Aquinas College on Tuesday, February 16th for an 8 p.m. tip.
