DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 21, 2019) – Powered by a season-high-tying 24 points from junior Nakeem Hamilton (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC), the Mercy College men's basketball team earned an 80-75 victory over Notre Dame College (Ohio) in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (3-9) have won two games in a row and defeat the 2019 NCAA Tournament participant Falcons (2-9) in the schools' first-ever meeting.
Hamilton added nine rebounds and had three assists on 9-of-19 shooting. Sophomore Dondre Barnes (Atlanta, Ga./South Atlanta) had a career-high-tying 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting with a game-high six assists. Junior Dayvon Cuffey (Baltimore, Md./Anne Arundel CC) had 12 points and six rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting and senior Lamont Williams Jr. (Irvington, N.J./County College of Morris) netted 11 points and three assists on 4-of-8 shooting. Freshman Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) contributed nine points and five rebounds off the bench.
Notre Dame was led by Drew Scarberry who had a game-high 25 points.
Mercy jumped out to a 16-4 lead following a Cuffey layup at the 14:36 mark of the first half. The visitors answered with a 9-2 run to cut the Mavericks lead to five, 18-13, with 10:54 remaining in the half. A Barnes three-pointer at the 9:00 mark gave Mercy a 24-15 lead and the Mavericks later held a 32-22 lead with 3:51 remaining in the half. Notre Dame ended the half on a 13-0 run to take a 35-32 lead at halftime.
A three-pointer by Scarberry to open the second half gave the Falcons their largest lead of the game, 38-32. Notre Dame held a 42-36 lead with 17:12 remaining before the Mavericks went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a Williams Jr. three, which gave Mercy a 43-42 lead with 13:56 left to play. Five straight points by the Falcons gave them the lead back at 47-43 with 13:08 remaining.
However, the Mavericks responded with a 9-0 run, finished off by a Barnes three, which gave Mercy a 52-47 lead with a little over 11 minutes left. Mercy held a 60-55 lead with 6:40 on the clock following a Scarberry three. The Mavericks came back on an 8-2 run, ended on a Kirkland three, which put Mercy up 68-57 with 4:29 left.
The Falcons cut the deficit to five, 72-67, with 56 seconds left after three Scarberry free throws, but Mercy scored four straight points at the line to put the lead to nine, 76-67, with 19 seconds left. The Mavericks went 4-of-4 from the line in the final 11 seconds to secure the win.
Mercy shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65) from the floor, 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from downtown and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the foul line. Notre Dame shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field, 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from beyond the arc and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the charity stripe. Notre Dame held a 38-31 edge in rebounds.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 1st when they play at Adelphi at 5 p.m.
