NYACK, N.Y. (Dec. 17, 2017) – Powered by five Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan College, 91-89, on Sunday afternoon at Nyack College.
The Mavericks (6-5, 2-2 ECC) snap a three-game losing streak with the win, while the Redhawks (9-4, 2-2 ECC) drop to .500 in ECC play.
Senior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University) led Mercy with a game high 21 points and ten rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting. Senior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) added 20 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting and junior Dequawne Richards (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC) had 17 points and six rebounds. Junior Sal Barbetto (New City, N.Y./Rockland CC) contributed 15 points and six assists and junior Chris Myers (Hackensack, N.J./Southeastern CC) netted 11 points and seven assists.
Roberts Wesleyan was paced by Isaiah Lewis, Gintaras Bartaskas and Justin Vaughan who all had a team high 15 points.
Mercy opened the contest with the game's first five points on a layup from Richards and a three from Howard. The Mavericks held a 12-8 lead at the 15:26 mark after a pair of free throws from Howard. The Redhawks would follow with six straight points to take a 14-12 lead with 13:46 remaining in the first half.
Mercy retook the lead at 22-20 following a Kozul trifecta with 9:13 on the clock before Roberts Wesleyan rattled off a 15-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 35-24, with six minutes left in the half. The Redhawks held a 41-31 lead with just over four minutes left before halftime. Mercy would close the half on a 12-0 run, capped off by a Howard layup, to put the Mavericks ahead 43-41 at halftime.
Roberts Wesleyan began the second half on a 19-9 run to retake the lead and build it to eight, 60-52, with 13:58 remaining. The Mavericks battled back and tied the game up for the sixth time at the 10:22 mark following a Kozul layup. The Redhawks responded by going on a 7-1 run to build a 72-66 advantage, but Mercy wouldn't quit and got the lead back, 73-72, on a Matthew Alectus (Hollywood, Fla./Hallandale) three with 7:21 on the clock.
The Redhawks had one last one run in them and took the lead back and went up six, 82-76, following two free throws from Lewis with 3:45 remaining. Mercy continued to play hard and went on an 8-2 run to tie the game up at 84-84 at the 1:52 mark. Toussaint then netted a pair of free throws to give the Redhawks the lead back at 86-84. The next Mavericks possession saw Howard drain a three from the right side after a pass from Myers that gave Mercy the lead for good, 87-86, with 1:30 left.
After an offensive foul by Lewis on the next Redhawk possession, Kozul connected on a layup with 25 seconds left to put the Mavericks up three, 89-86. Following a Roberts Wesleyan timeout, Bartaskas would attempt a game-tying three but would come up empty leading to a Kozul rebound. After a Redhawks foul, Kozul would go 1-of-2 from the line to put Mercy up 90-86 with 11 seconds on the clock. Roberts Wesleyan would drain a three with four seconds remaining to get within one, 90-89, leading to another Redhawks timeout. Lewis would foul Myers who went 1-of-2 from the stripe with two seconds left and a last second heave would not go giving Mercy the victory.
Mercy shot 46.4 percent (32-of-69) from the floor, 36.0 percent (9-of-25) from downtown and 75.0 percent (18-of-24) from the foul line. Roberts Wesleyan shot 43.5 percent (30-of-69) from the floor, 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the charity stripe.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, December 30th when they host Assumption College at 2 p.m. at SUNY Purchase.
