ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Jan. 28, 2018) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team nearly overcame a 20-point second-half deficit before falling, 75-72, to ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan College on Sunday afternoon.
The Mavericks (8-13, 4-7 ECC) have dropped five games in a row and are a half game in front of Queens for the sixth and final spot in the ECC Tournament. The Redhawks (14-6, 7-4 ECC) slide into fourth place in the ECC standings with the win.
Leading Mercy was junior Sal Barbetto (New City, N.Y./Rockland CC) who had a game high tying 14 points. Senior Kelvin Howard added 13 points and eight rebounds and junior Chris Myers (Hackensack, N.J./Southeastern CC) contributed 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Freshman Matthew Alectus (Hollywood, Fla./Hallandale) netted eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Justin Vaughan who had a game high tying 14 points, while Isaiah Lewis recorded 12 points and seven rebounds.
The opening half saw the score tied for the third time at 10-10 with 13:25 remaining in the half. Four unanswered by Mercy gave the Mavericks a 14-10 lead, but the Redhawks responded with four straight of their own to tie the game up for the fourth time at 14-14 with ten minutes on the clock.
The score was tied for the seventh time at 21-21 with 7:08 on the clock before Howard came down and drilled a three to put Mercy ahead 24-21. The teams continued to battle and the score would end up tied for the ninth time at 30-30 with 3:47 remaining in the half. Roberts Wesleyan would end the half on an 11-2 run to head into halftime up 41-32.
The second half saw the Redhawks score the period's first four points to take a 13-point lead, 45-32, but Myers came back with four straight points to make it a nine-point game, 45-36, with 17:07 left. Roberts Wesleyan answered with a 15-4 run over six minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 60-40, with 11:17 left on the clock.
The Redhawks looked to have the game well in hand but Mercy continued to claw their way back and went on a 30-13 run to close the deficit to just three, 73-70, with 27 seconds left. Jean Toussaint went 1-of-2 from the foul line to increase the lead to four, 74-70, with 19 seconds left. Barbetto missed a layup on the other end of the floor leading to a Manny Joseph rebound. Joseph was fouled and went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 75-70 with nine seconds left. Redshirt freshman Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) would make a layup at the buzzer but that would not be enough as the Redhawks escaped with the win.
Mercy shot 37.1 percent (26-of-70) from the floor, 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from downtown and 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the foul line. Roberts Wesleyan shot 38.0 percent (19-of-50) from the field, 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from beyond the arc and 85.3 percent (29-of-34) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 41-37 edge on the boards and an 11-4 edge in second chance points.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 31st when they host NYIT at Nyack College at 8 p.m.
