AMHERST, N.Y. (Feb. 16, 2020) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team suffered a 96-79 setback to ECC foe Daemen College on Sunday afternoon at Lumsden Gymnasium.

The Mavericks (5-18, 3-10 ECC) have lost two games in a row and sit 2.5 games behind the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot with three games left. The Wildcats (21-6, 10-3 ECC) have won three games in a row.

Redshirt junior Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) led Mercy with a game-high 27 points on 13-for-17 shooting with a team-high-tying seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting and junior Dayvon Cuffey (Baltimore, Md./Anne Arundel CC) had 14 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) added 12 points and senior Lamont Williams Jr. (Irvington, N.J./County College of Morris) dished out a game-high nine assists.

Daemen was led by Jay Sarkis who had a team-high 22 points.

The Wildcats opened the game on a 14-0 run before Mercy answered with an 8-0 run to make it 14-8 with 14:20 left in the first half. Daemen responded with a 17-3 run to increase their lead to a game-high 20 points, 31-11, with 10:37 remaining in the half.

Daemen held a 17-point lead, 50-33, at the 1:31 mark before back-to-back baskets from Kirkland and Griffin sent the Mavericks into halftime down 13, 50-37.

A Cuffey layup and Wilson jumper to open the second half got the Mavericks to within single digits, 50-41, with 18:25 left. Daemen quickly came back with four straight points to put the lead back to 13, 54-41. A Wilson trifecta with 14:58 on the clock got Mercy back within 11, 59-48. However, the hosts quickly scored five straight points to increase the lead back to 16, 64-48.

Mercy would cut the deficit to 13 several times, but could not get any closer, giving Daemen the win.

The Mavericks shot 50.0 percent (33-for-66) from the field, 32.1 percent (9-for-28) from downtown and 66.7 percent (4-for-6) from the foul line. The Wildcats shot 52.9 percent (37-for-70) from the floor, 44.4 percent (16-for-36) from beyond the arc and 60.0 percent (6-for-10) from the charity stripe. Daemen held a 37-31 edge on the glass.

Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, February 19th when they host Molloy at 7 p.m.