Hickey and Morgan Score in Double Figures as Men's Basketball Plays at St. Thomas Aquinas
Box Score SPARKILL, N.Y. (Jan. 11, 2017) – Despite graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y./Dowling College) and junior Matt Morgan (White Plains, N.Y./Nyack College) scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered an 113-71 setback to St. Thomas Aquinas College on Wednesday night at Aquinas Hall Gym.
The Mavericks (2-13, 0-7 ECC) remain looking for their first ECC win, while the Spartans (13-4, 7-2 ECC) have won three games in a row after a four-game losing streak.
Hickey recorded a team-high 18 points along with six rebounds, going 8-of-9 from the foul line. Morgan scored a season-high 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added three assists. Junior Jefferson Francois (New York, N.Y./Hostos CC) added eight points and a team-high-tying six rebounds off the bench.
Shaquille McFarlan led five Spartans scoring in double figures with a game-high 24 points.
Mercy faced a tough challenge in taking on an NCAA Tournament team a year ago and a team that has been ranked in the top 25 nationally throughout this season. The hosts jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the 16:39 mark, forcing a Mavericks timeout. Out of the timeout, Mercy followed with an 8-4 run that brought the score to 15-10 after a Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) three-pointer with 15:17 left in the half.
A Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) layup with 13:14 on the clock made it 21-15 in favor of the Spartans. St. Thomas Aquinas would respond with a 44-14 run to close the half, taking a 65-29 lead into halftime. The Spartans used 56.1 percent shooting and 15 Mercy turnovers to build the 36-point advantage at the intermission.
St. Thomas Aquinas continued to play well in the second half, building the lead up to a game-high 54 points, 111-57, with 3:58 remaining. The Mavericks continued to play to the very end and ended the game on a 14-2 run to bring the final score to 113-71.
Mercy shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the floor, 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from downtown and 80.0 percent (12-of-15) from the charity stripe. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 52.5 percent (42-of-80) from the field, 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from beyond the arc and 83.3 percent (20-of-24) from the foul line. The Spartans held a 39-31 edge on the boards and a 23-8 advantage in second chance points. The hosts forced 26 Mercy turnovers, while committing just six, which turned into a 46-4 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to rebound when they host the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, January 14th at 2:30 p.m. at Westchester Community College.
