Lyles' Layup at Buzzer Leads Men's Basketball to Best Start Since 1992-93 Season With Win Over LIU Post
Box Score WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Powered by a game-winning layup from senior Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tompkins Cortland CC) as time expired, the Mercy College men's basketball team earned a 67-65 victory over LIU Post on Wednesday night at the Westchester County Center to improve to 8-9 for the first time since the 1992-93 season.
The Mavericks (8-9, 6-6 ECC) are now off to their best 12-game conference start since the 2004-05 season and pick up their second win in two years against the Pioneers (13-8, 8-5 ECC) to improve to 8-66 all-time against LIU Post. Mercy has now doubled their win total in conference play from a year ago and move back into a tie for the final ECC Tournament spot with Dowling. The Mavericks currently hold the tiebreaker over the Golden Lions after defeating them on January 20th.
Senior Jason Quijada (Monsey, N.Y./Rockland CC) led the way for Mercy with a team-high 20 points off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting. Also, scoring in double figures was junior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) who finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting. Lyles ended the night with 13 points and junior K.J. Rose (Binghamton, N.Y./Fairfield University) capped off the night with five points and 13 rebounds.
The Pioneers were paced by Jared Hall who put up a game-high 26 points.
The Mavericks came in off an impressive win at Queens on Saturday and looked to level their mark in conference play against perennial ECC power LIU Post. However, the Pioneers got off to a 22-12 start at the 10:17 mark and looked like they may be too much for Mercy.
The Mavericks would show that this is a different Mercy team from previous seasons and followed with a 17-4 run, capped off by a Quijada trifecta, to take a 29-26 lead with 3:58 left in the half. Mercy headed into the locker room up 31-30 with Quijada leading the way with all of his 20 points in the frame.
LIU Post came out of the locker rooms with something to prove and began the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 40-31 lead with 17:18 remaining. However, Robinson took over and scored eight unanswered to cut the deficit to one, 40-39, with 13 minutes left.
Lyles drained another triple at the 11:11 mark to put the Mavericks back on top, 45-44, before the teams traded the lead back-and-forth as the contest had seven ties and eight lead changes. Mercy built the lead up to four, 57-53, with four minutes left following a Robinson three-point play. The Pioneers cut the Mavericks lead to 57-55 with 2:34 left before a Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) three-point play put Mercy up five, 60-55, with two minutes left.
A Robinson free throw with 1:42 left gave the Mavericks a six-point lead and they looked to be well on their way to another ECC win. LIU Post had an answer and followed with four straight to get within two, 61-59, with 57 seconds left.
The Pioneers battled back and tied the score up at 65-65 with just five seconds left following a pair of Hall free throws. Overtime looked like a distinct possibility as the Mavericks had to go the full length of the court. However, as has become a tradition this season, Mercy relied on late heroics as Lyles took the ball to the rim and his shot would hang on the rim before falling to seal the dramatic win.
The Mavericks shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the floor while the visitors shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55). Mercy held a 46-38 edge on the glass and maintained a 20-7 edge in second chance points.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to get to .500 on the year when they host NYIT on Saturday, February 6th at 2:30 p.m.
