DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 5, 2018) – Despite a team-high 14 points from sophomore Matthew Alectus (Hollywood, Fla./Hallandale), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought, 79-68, decision to No. 21/23 St. Thomas Aquinas College in their ECC opener on Wednesday night at the Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (2-5, 0-1 ECC) fail to build off their win last time out, while the Spartans (7-1, 1-0 ECC) open up ECC action with a win.
Alectus added three rebounds and redshirt sophomore Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) had a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds along with three blocks. Freshman Dondre Barnes (Atlanta, Ga./South Atlanta) poured in 11 points off the bench and senior Sal Barbetto (New City, N.Y./Rockland CC) finished with ten points.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Demetre Roberts and Kameron Murrell who both had a game-high 22 points.
The Spartans opened the contest with a 7-4 lead before Alectus nailed a three to tie the game up at 7-7 with 16:32 left in the first half. Mercy responded with a 15-9 run, capped off by a three from Alectus, that put the Mavericks ahead 22-16 with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
Mercy held a 26-22 lead with 9:50 on the clock following a Griffin dunk. The Spartans answered back with a 13-0 run to build a nine-point lead, 35-26, with 6:29 remaining before halftime. Mercy responded with a 10-3 run to make it a two-point game, 38-36, with 1:35 on the clock and headed into halftime down, 41-38.
St. Thomas Aquinas started the second half with nine straight points to take a 50-38 lead, forcing a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, the Mavericks cut the deficit to nine, 51-42, following a Barbetto layup, but the Spartans increased the lead right back to 14, 56-42, with 15:45 on the clock.
Mercy continued to battle against the nationally-ranked Spartans and went on a 20-4 run to retake the lead at 62-60 with 7:49 left to play. However, St. Thomas Aquinas came back on a 9-0 run of their own to take the lead back and built it to 69-62 with five minutes remaining.
The Mavericks cut the deficit to four, 69-65, after an Alectus free throw with 3:39 remaining, but the Spartans would end the game on a 10-3 run to secure the win.
Mercy shot 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the floor, 17.4 percent (4-of-23) from downtown and 66.7 percent (24-of-36) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field, 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from beyond the arc and 79.3 percent (23-of-29) from the charity stripe. The Spartans held a 42-37 edge on the glass and a 24-13 edge in points off turnovers. Mercy held a 30-11 edge in points in the paint and a 20-12 edge in bench points.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, December 8th when they play at UDC at 3 p.m.
