Hickey Records 1,000th Career Point as Men's Basketball Plays at NYIT
Box Score OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Jan. 18, 2017) – Despite graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y./Dowling College) recording his 1,000th career point, the Mercy College men's basketball suffered a 78-75 setback to ECC foe NYIT on Wednesday night at Recreation Hall.
The Mavericks (2-15, 0-9 ECC) remain winless in ECC play, while the Bears (6-11, 4-5 ECC) have won two games in a row.
Mercy was led by junior Matt Morgan (White Plains, N.Y./Nyack College) who had a team-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while junior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) and freshman Daniel Kissoon (Jamaica, N.Y./Springfield Gardens) both added 13 points. Hickey netted 12 points, including his 1,000th career point at the 18:49 mark of first half. Senior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) recorded nine points and six rebounds.
NYIT was guided by Jon Feiler who finished with a double-double by way of 23 points and 21 rebounds, while Jeffrey Hayden chipped in a game-high 29 points.
The Mavericks looked to pick up their first ECC win of the year and held a 19-18 lead at the 10:21 mark of the first half after a Robinson layup. The hosts responded and took a 43-38 lead with 14 seconds remaining in the opening half. Morgan ended the half with a three at the buzzer off an assist from Hickey to bring Mercy within two, 43-41, at halftime.
Robinson opened up the second half with a layup to even up the score at 43-43 and the Mavericks looked to be on the verge of overtaking the Bears. However, NYIT followed with a 15-2 run to take a 58-45 lead with 14:22 remaining, forcing a Mercy timeout.
The hosts built the lead to 14, 65-51, with 11:15 on the clock and seemed to have the game in hand. The Mavericks continued to fight and scored 11 unanswered, capped off by back-to-back threes from Howard that brought the score to 65-62 with just over nine minutes remaining.
NYIT got the lead back to seven, 71-64, with seven minutes left, but Mercy did not relent and trimmed the lead to three, 76-73, with just under two minutes left. Hickey drove to the basket and connected on a layup to make it a one-point game, 76-75, with 1:22 remaining.
Feiler brought the lead to three, 78-75, for the Bears after a layup with 54 seconds left. After defensive stops by both teams, the Mavericks had a chance to tie with nine seconds left, but a three-point attempt with three seconds on the clock wouldn't fall. NYIT corralled the rebound and held on for the victory.
Mercy shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68) from the floor, 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from beyond the arc and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the foul line. NYIT shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field, 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from downtown and 77.8 percent (21-of-27) from the charity stripe. The Bears held a 46-26 edge on the boards, while Mercy held an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks look to rebound when they host Bridgeport on Saturday, January 21st at 2:30 p.m. at Westchester Community College.
