Jennings Hits Go-Ahead Trifecta as Men's Basketball Sweeps Season Series With NYIT for First Time Since 1997-98
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 6, 2016) – Powered by a go-ahead three-pointer from junior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) with a minute left in the second half, the Mercy College men's basketball team won their third straight East Coast Conference (ECC) game to move into sole possession of the final ECC Tournament spot after defeating NYIT, 74-70, on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Gymnasium.
Earlier in the day both men's and women's basketball teams invited back former student-athletes for an alumni game and they were in attendance to see their Mavericks make history.
The Mavericks (9-9, 7-6 ECC) continue on their best start since the 1992-93 season and are now above .500 in league play during the month of February for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Mercy sweeps the season series over the Bears (3-17, 2-11 ECC) for the first time since the 1997-98 season and have their most wins in a season since the 2004-05 season when they won 12 games. The Mavericks have now won six home games, marking the most in a season since the 2004-05 season.
Senior Tyseem Lyles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Tompkins Cortland CC) led the Mavericks in the scoring department with 16 points and seven rebounds, while junior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) secured his fifth double-double of the year by way of 14 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Jason Quijada (Monsey, N.Y./Rockland CC) dropped in 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Jennings and senior Gerald McClease (New Haven, Conn./Sullivan CC) each put up 10 points apiece.
Leading NYIT was Khalif Chaplin who put up a team-high 25 points.
Mercy entered the contest looking to win their third straight ECC game and improve to .500 on the year against an NYIT team that entered the contest in last place. However, the Bears had just beaten perennial ECC power Bridgeport a week ago and had some momentum going for them.
The visitors got off to a strong start as they jumped out to a 15-9 lead at the 11:11 mark following a Jerrel Green. The Mavericks came back with an answer as they followed with a 16-7 run, capped off by back-to-back layups from Joshua Thompson (Chester, Pa./Globe Institute), to take a 25-22 lead with 4:57 left in the first half.
Following a Quijada trifecta and McClease layup, Mercy built a 30-24 lead with 3:42 remaining before halftime. Another Thompson layup at the 1:52 mark gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 34-25. The Bears concluded the first half on an 8-0 run to trail by one, 34-33, at halftime.
NYIT came out of the intermission scoring the first six points to take a 39-34 lead with 18 minutes left. Chaplin nailed a three with 11:21 left to give the Bears their largest lead of the game, 47-40, with 11:21 left.
The Mavericks got within two, 55-53, following a Robinson layup with 6:35 left, but NYIT answered with five straight to increase the lead back to seven, 60-53, with 5:37 left. Mercy again battled back and cut the deficit to one, 62-61, with 3:41 left but back-to-back buckets from the guests upped the lead back to six, 67-61, with 2:41 left.
NYIT looked to be heading to their third conference win, but the Mavericks had other plans as Lyles immediately responded with a three to cut the Bears lead to three. Chaplin made a pair of free throws on the next NYIT possession to take a 69-64 lead with 2:11 left.
The new-look Mavericks have become accustomed to late game magic and today was no different as a three by Lyles got Mercy within two, 69-67, with two minutes left. After a possession by each team, Jennings would play the role of hero today as he came down with 1:03 on the clock and drained a three-pointer to give the Mavericks the lead for good, 70-69.
Mercy sealed the game at the line as Lyles went 4-of-4 from the stripe during the final 17 seconds and the Mavericks defense stepped up as they outscored the Bears 20-10 in the final five minutes to earn the win.
The Mavericks shot 35.4 percent (28-of-79) from the floor, while the Bears hit 45.5 percent (25-of-55) of their attempts. Mercy held a 48-42 edge on the glass, including a 21-9 advantage on the offensive glass. The Mavericks held a 19-8 margin in second chance points and 20-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, February 9th when they host SUNY Delhi at 7 p.m.
