NYACK, N.Y. (Jan. 13, 2018) – Powered by the game-winning layup from junior Chris Myers (Hackensack, N.J./Southeastern CC) with 37 seconds remaining, the Mercy College men's basketball team overcame a ten-point second-half deficit to defeat ECC foe Molloy College, 67-65, on Saturday afternoon at Bowman Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (8-8, 4-4 ECC) improve to .500 on the year and in ECC play and defeat the Lions (3-14, 2-5 ECC) for the first time since 2012. Mercy currently sits in a three-way tie for fifth place in the ECC with the top six teams at the end of the season making the conference tournament.
Myers scored eight points and had six assists, while junior Dequawne Richards (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC) scored a team high 15 points and had seven rebounds. Redshirt freshman Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) had a career high 11 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting. Senior Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) added nine points and nine rebounds and freshman Matthew Alectus (Hollywood, Fla./Hallandale) contributed eight points and three rebounds. Senior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University) netted eight points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Molloy was led by Curtis Jenkins who had a game high 29 points and nine rebounds.
The Lions started off strong in the first half, jumping out to a 9-2 lead after a Nick Corbett three, forcing a Mercy timeout at the 17:34 mark. The Mavericks came out of the timeout on a 7-0 run, capped off by Richards layup, that made it 9-9. Molloy followed with a 10-4 run to retake the lead at 19-13 with 12 minutes left in the half.
A Corbett three at the 7:21 mark gave the Lions a nine-point edge, 29-20. The Lions looked to be pulling way but the Mavericks responded by getting within three, 36-33, with 2:11 left in the half. A pair of free throws from Jenkins would give Molloy a 38-33 lead at halftime.
The second half saw Mercy begin the frame with four straight points to get within one, 38-37, but the Lions came right back with a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game 47-37 with 16:21 left. Molloy seemed to have the game in hand, but the Mavericks would not go down easily and went on a 14-4 run to knot the score up at 51-51 with 7:54 remaining.
Molloy retook the lead at 53-51 before Mercy rattled off a 9-0 run, capped off by a Griffin jumper, that gave the Mavericks a 60-53 advantage with 3:43 remaining. Mercy maintained a 65-58 edge with 2:21 on the clock after a Myers layup. The Lions responded with a 7-0 run to tie the game up again at 65-65 with one minute left. Myers came down on the next Mercy possession and was able to drive to the basket and score, giving Mercy a 67-65 lead with just 37 seconds on the clock. After a Molloy timeout, the Mavericks defense would hold off two Jenkins shot attempts to secure the win.
Mercy shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the floor, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from downtown and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from the foul line. Molloy shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field, 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from long distance and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the charity stripe.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks look to make it two wins in a row when they host Concordia College on Thursday, January 18th at 7:30 p.m. at Nyack College.
