AMHERST, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2018) – Despite a game high 22 points from junior Dequawne Richards (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC), the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered a 68-60 setback to ECC foe Daemen College on Friday night at Lumsden Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (8-12, 4-6 ECC) have now dropped four games in a row, while the Wildcats (14-6, 8-2 ECC) have won nine games in a row.
Richards went 10-of-22 from the floor and had eight rebounds. Junior Chris Myers (Hackensack, N.J./Southeastern CC) added ten points and a game high five assists. Senior Marko Kozul (Astoria, N.Y./Felician University) contributed eight points and six rebounds.
Daemen was paced by Andrew Sischo who had a team high 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 lead at the 13:49 of the mark in a low-scoring first half. Daemen increased the lead to seven, 20-13, with 5:44 remaining in the half. Mercy would answer with an 11-0 run, capped off by a Sal Barbetto (New City, N.Y./Rockland CC) jumper, that gave the Mavericks a 24-20 lead with 1:24 remaining in the half. The teams traded baskets and Mercy would head into halftime with a 26-22 lead.
A Myers layup at the 17:15 mark of the second half gave the Mavericks a 34-27 lead and Mercy looked to be pulling away from Daemen. The Wildcats cut the deficit to three, 34-31, with 13:19 remaining but the Mavericks would bring the lead back to seven, 38-31, following back-to-back baskets from Kozul and Henoc Bienne (Valley Stream, N.Y./Paris JC).
Mercy once again looked to have the game in hand, but the Wildcats would follow with a 22-4 run that gave themselves an 11-point advantage, 53-42, with four minutes remaining. A three-pointer and dunk from Kelvin Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Baltimore City CC) made it 53-47 with 3:21 left, but that would be the closest Mercy could get as Daemen answered with a 7-1 run that put the Wildcats lead to 12, 60-48, with just over a minute remaining. The Wildcats held on the rest of the way to secure their ninth straight win.
Mercy shot 38.0 percent (27-of-71) from the floor, 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from beyond the arc and 40.0 percent (2-of-5) from the foul line. Daemen shot 40.0 percent (22-of-55) from the field, 25.0 percent (5-of-20) from downtown and 70.4 percent (19-of-27) from the charity stripe. Daemen held a 46-36 edge on the glass, while Mercy held a 38-28 advantage in points in the paint.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks look to get back in the win column when they play at Roberts Wesleyan College on Sunday, January 28th at 4 p.m.
