ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Dec. 15, 2018) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered a 96-76 setback to ECC foe Molloy College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (4-6, 2-2 ECC) see their two-game winning streak come to an end, while the Lions (7-3, 4-0 ECC) have won six games in a row.
Redshirt sophomore Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) led the way for the Mavericks with a double-double by way of 18 points and 16 rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting. Graduate student Tawayne Anderson Jr. (Freeport, N.Y./Merrimack College) recorded a season-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and freshman Dondre Barnes (Atlanta, Ga./South Atlanta) finished with career-high-tying 11 points. Sophomore Matthew Alectus (Hollywood, Fla./Hallandale) rounded out four Mavericks scoring in double figures with ten points and six rebounds.
Molloy was led by Nick Corbett who had a game-high 27 points.
The Lions started the contest with four straight points and increased the lead to seven, 11-4, with 16:44 left in the opening half. Mercy cut the deficit to one, 11-10, on an Amir Atkins (Alexandria, Va./Hagerstown CC) three, but the hosts responded by putting the lead to four, 19-15, with 12:30 left before halftime.
Mercy came back with a 16-7 run, capped off by an Anderson layup, which gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 31-26, with 8:23 remaining in the half. Molloy battled back and went on an 18-5 run to retake the lead and built it to eight, 44-36, with 3:23 on the clock. The Lions held the lead the rest of the half and headed into halftime up, 46-41.
The Mavericks opened the second half by making it a two-point game, 54-52, with 16:37 left to play following a pair of Daquon Ervin (Brooklyn, N.Y./UMBC) free throws. Molloy answered with a 9-0 run to put the lead to 11, 63-52, with 14:51 showing on the clock. An Ervin three at the 13:52 mark made it an eight-point game, 65-57. However, the Lions went on a 29-12 over the next 11 minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 94-69, with 2:45 remaining and held on for the victory.
Mercy shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the floor, 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from downtown and 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the foul line. Molloy shot 49.3 percent (36-of-73) from the field, 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the charity stripe. Molloy held a 26-7 edge in points off turnovers and an 18-2 advantage in fast break points.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 2nd when they host Adelphi at 7 p.m.
