STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Dec. 10, 2017) – Despite a team high 12 points from junior Dequawne Richards (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC), the Mercy College men's basketball team battled early before falling, 75-41, to Division I Wagner College on Sunday afternoon at Spiro Sports Center.
The Mavericks (5-4) drop their second straight game, while the Seahawks (7-1) have won six games in a row.
Richards finished 5-of-11 from the floor and had a team high six rebounds. Senior Brendon Smith (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore City CC) added six points and five rebounds and senior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) contributed five points and five rebounds.
Wagner was led by Blake Francis who had a game high 19 points and five assists. JoJo Cooper poured in 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting.
A low-scoring affair broke out early with the Mavericks scoring the game's first four points to take a 4-0 lead at the 18:31 mark. After the Seahawks came back with four straight, Mercy increased the lead back to four, 8-4, after back-to-back layups from Chris Myers (Hackensack, N.J./Southeastern CC) and Smith with 13:45 left in first half.
The Mavericks held a 10-9 lead at the 9:05 mark after a layup by Richards. Wagner would then follow with a 15-3 run to build an 11-point lead, 24-13, with 3:25 remaining in the half. Mercy continued to play hard and followed with five straight points to get within six, 24-18. However, the hosts ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 30-18 lead at halftime.
The Seahawks opened the second half on a 13-2 run to increase the lead to 23, 43-20, with 14 minutes left. A Henoc Bienne (Valley Stream, N.Y./Paris JC) layup at the 11:38 mark got the Mavericks to within 19, 43-24, but that would be the closest Mercy could get as Wagner responded with a 16-2 run to build a 59-26 lead with 7:43 left on the clock.
Wagner would hold a double-digit lead the rest of the way in securing their seventh straight win. After Mercy held the Seahawks to just 25.8 percent shooting in the first half, Wagner was able to shoot 51.4 percent in the second half and used a 27-2 edge in fast break points to pull away from the Mavericks.
Mercy shot 24.1 percent (14-of-58) from the floor, 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from downtown and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the foul line. Wagner shot 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the field, 18.5 percent (5-of-27) from long distance and 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the charity stripe.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, December 15th when they host Daemen College at Nyack College at 6 p.m.
