Jennings and Atkins Record Team-High 17 Points as Men's Basketball Takes On Queens in ECC Contest
Box Score VALHALLA, N.Y. (Jan. 25, 2017) – Despite a team-high-tying 17 points from senior Raphael Jennings (Washington, D.C./ASA College) and sophomore Amir Atkins (Alexandria, Va./Hagerstown CC), the Mercy College men's basketball dropped an 89-82 decision to Queens College in an ECC tilt on Wednesday night at Westchester Community College.
The Mavericks (2-17, 0-11 ECC) remain winless in ECC play, while the Knights (10-8, 7-4 ECC) have won three games in a row.
Jennings went 5-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the foul line, while adding four assists and two steals. Atkins reached a season high in points on 5-of-11 shooting and junior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University) contributed 15 points and five rebounds off the bench. Junior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) rounded out four Mavericks scoring in double figures with ten points and three steals.
Queens was guided by Tyree White who ended the contest with 21 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.
Mercy got off to a strong start with back-to-back baskets from freshman Daniel Kissoon (Jamaica, N.Y./Springfield Gardens) and senior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College) to take a 4-0 lead at the 18:33 mark. The Mavericks increased the lead to six, 17-11, with 10:35 remaining in the opening half after a Howard trifecta.
Kozul drained a pair of free throws at the eight-minute mark to put Mercy up seven, 23-16, but the visitors rallied with a 9-2 run to tie the game up at 25-25 with 5:45 left before halftime. The Knights took a brief 28-27 lead at the 4:32 mark, but the Mavericks ended the half on a 17-9 run to take a 44-37 lead into halftime.
Mercy looked to have all the momentum on their side, but Queens began the second stanza on an 11-1 run to retake the lead at 48-45 with 16 minutes remaining. The Mavericks continued to stick around and knotted the score up twice with the last coming on an Atkins jumper at the 13:10 mark to make it 50-50.
Queens followed with a 10-5 run to carry a 60-55 lead with 10 minutes left, but Mercy continued to fight and cut the deficit to two, 62-60, with 8:55 remaining. Five unanswered by the Knights put the lead up to seven, 67-60, forcing a Maverick timeout. Out of the timeout, Mercy cut the deficit to four, 67-63, on a Ryan Hickey three, but the Mavericks could not get any closer and Queens came away with the victory.
Mercy shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the floor, 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (21-of-28) from the foul line. Queens shot 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field, 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from long distance and 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the charity stripe. The Knights held a 39-26 edge on the boards, while Mercy maintained a 20-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, January 28th when they host Daemen College at 2:30 p.m. at Westchester Community College.
