Robinson Records Double-Double as Men's Basketball Faces Roberts Wesleyan
Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Jan. 4, 2017) – Despite a game-high 20 points and ten rebounds from senior William Robinson (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Nyack College), the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered a 71-63 setback to Roberts Wesleyan College on Wednesday night at the Voller Athletic Center.
The Mavericks (2-12, 0-6 ECC) remain winless in ECC play, while the Redhawks (2-11, 1-4 ECC) pick up their first ECC win of the year.
Robinson went 9-of-17 from the field, while graduate student Ryan Hickey (Smithtown, N.Y./Dowling College) added 13 points and five rebounds. Junior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University) rounded out three Mavericks scoring in double figures with 12 points and four rebounds.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Malik Dare who had a team-high 18 points and six rebounds. Isaiah Lewis added 16 points and five rebounds.
The hosts jumped out to a 6-0 lead early at the 18:15 mark, but the Mavericks would come back with a 10-0 run to build a 10-6 lead with 15:47 left in the first half. Roberts Wesleyan retook the lead at 13-12 with 13:12 left in the opening half before Mercy followed with a 10-3 run to build a 22-16 advantage with 6:22 remaining before halftime after a Hickey layup.
Lewis drained a three at the 5:03 mark that got the Redhawks within one, 22-21. However, the Mavericks would close the half on a 16-2 run, capped off by a Hickey layup at the halftime buzzer, to send Mercy into halftime with a 38-23 lead.
The Mavericks looked to be on their way to their first ECC win, but the hosts came out of the locker rooms with the first six points to cut the deficit to single digits, 38-29, with 18:33 left to play. Mercy fought back and responded with seven straight points to increase their lead to a game-high 16 points, 45-29, with 16:53 left in the game.
Mercy held a 51-42 margin with 11 minutes to play after a Kozul layup and seemed to have the game in hand. However, the home team did not go down and went on a 15-4 run to take their first lead since the first half at 57-55 with 4:14 on the clock. Robinson nailed a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 57-57 with 3:26 left.
The momentum of the game had switched over to the Redhawks and they would close out the game on a 14-6 run to steal the victory away from the Mavericks. Roberts Wesleyan ended the game on a 42-18 run after Mercy had taken their largest lead of the game at the 16:53 mark of the half. The Redhawks used 75.0 percent (18-of-24) shooting in the second half to pull away from the Mavericks.
Mercy shot 46.0 percent (29-of-63) from the floor, 11.1 percent (1-of-9) from downtown and 40.0 percent (4-of-10) from the foul line. Roberts Wesleyan shot 51.0 percent (26-of-51) from the field, 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from beyond the arc and 50.0 percent (15-of-30) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 37-33 edge on the boards.
Head Coach Dr. Jody King and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, January 7th when they host Vaughn College at 2:30 p.m. at Westchester Community College.
