FLUSHING, N.Y. (Jan. 15, 2020) – Powered by double-doubles from junior Nakeem Hamilton (Bronx, N.Y./Hostos CC) and redshirt junior Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional), the Mercy College men's basketball team earned a 70-57 win over ECC foe Queens College on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks (4-12, 2-4 ECC) snap a three-game losing streak and sit in the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot, while the Knights (3-12, 2-4 ECC) have dropped four of their last five games. Mercy picks up their first road win of the year and wins at Queens for the first time since January 30, 2016. The 57 points allowed is the fewest surrendered by the Mavericks this season and Mercy also had a season-high 17 assists.
Hamilton had a season-high 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting with a season-high 11 rebounds and six assists. Griffin added 20 points with a game-high 12 rebounds and three blocks. Freshman Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) netted 11 points and six rebounds and senior Lamont Williams Jr. (Irvington, N.J./County College of Morris) had six points.
Queens was led by Elijah Bovell who had a team-high 19 points.
The Knights jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 13:15 left in the first half and later held a 26-17 lead with 7:16 remaining in the opening half. Mercy regrouped and went on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Hamilton three-point play, to get within one, 26-25, at the 5:24 mark.
Queens followed with four straight points of their own to build the lead back to five, 30-25. The Knights held a 32-29 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the half before Mercy ended the half on a 7-0 run to head into halftime up, 36-32.
A Wayne Li jumper to open the second half cut the Mercy lead to two, 36-34. Queens looked to make a comeback, but the Mavericks had other plans and went on a 12-0 run to take a 14-point lead, 48-34, with 15:39 left to play. The Knights followed with a Bovell jumper to cut the lead to 12, but Mercy rattled off an 8-3 spurt to take their largest lead of the game, 56-39, at the 11:01 mark following a Hamilton jumper.
The Knights cut the Mercy lead to ten, 63-53, with 6:18 on the clock. The Mavericks followed with four straight points to put the lead to 14, 67-53, with 3:45 left and a Griffin jumper at the 2:42 mark gave Mercy a 70-55 lead they would not relinquish.
Mercy shot 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the floor, 44.4 percent (4-for-9) from downtown and 60.9 percent (14-for-23) from the foul line. Queens shot 33.8 percent (22-for-65) from the field, 16.7 percent (4-for-24) from beyond the arc and 90.0 percent (9-for-10) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 37-34 edge on the boards.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, January 18th when they play at Molloy at 2 p.m.
