SPARKILL, N.Y. (Nov. 12, 2017) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered a 73-57 setback to University of New Haven on Sunday afternoon at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
The Mavericks (1-1) fall to the Chargers (1-1) for the second year in a row.
Leading Mercy was junior Chris Myers (Hackensack, N.J./Southeastern CC) who had a team-high 20 points and five assists, while junior Dequawne Richards (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC) added a double-double by way of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) also contributed a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
New Haven was led by Danny Upchurch who had a game-high 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Mercy jumped out to an early 12-5 lead after a Myers trifecta at the 14:45 mark of the first half. The Chargers quickly followed with a 10-2 run to take a 15-14 lead with 9:32 remaining in the opening half. New Haven later built a 22-19 lead at the 6:37 mark after a pair of free throws from Najee Larcher. Richards came down on the next Maverick possession with a three to tie the game up at 22-22.
A jumper by Richards at the 1:38 mark made the score 26-26, but the Chargers came back down and drained a three to retake the lead at 29-26. Howard tied the contest for the sixth time of the half with a triple with 16 seconds left to send the two teams into halftime tied at 29-29.
Mercy shot 34.3 percent in the first half, while New Haven connected on 33.3 percent of their attempts.
The second half saw the Mavericks open the stanza on a 15-9 run, capped off by a Howard dunk, that put Mercy out in front, 44-38, with 14:32 left. The Chargers cut the lead to one, 44-43, before Howard followed with a jumper to increase the Mercy lead to three, 46-43.
New Haven then ensued with a 23-3 run over nearly ten minutes that gave them the lead for good at 66-49 with 3:15 remaining. The Chargers would hold a double-digit lead the rest of the way in securing their first win of the season.
Mercy shot 33.8 percent (24-of-71) from the floor, 25.0 percent (7-of-28) from downtown and 20.0 percent (2-of-10) from the foul line. New Haven shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from beyond the arc and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the charity stripe.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks look to get back in the win column when they play Chestnut Hill College at Roberts Wesleyan College on Saturday, November 18th at 6 p.m.
