DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 8, 2020) – Powered by redshirt junior Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) setting a new program record for career blocks and recording a double-double, the Mercy College men's basketball team earned a 76-68 victory over ECC foe New York Tech on Saturday afternoon at Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (5-16, 3-8 ECC) snap a four-game losing streak and currently sit 1.5 games behind Queens for the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot. The Bears (4-18, 3-7 ECC) have dropped two games in a row and are one game behind Queens.
Griffin had three blocks in today's game and now has 119 career blocks, surpassing the previous record of 118 set in 1994-95 by Chris Middleton. The forward added a game-high 23 points and 17 rebounds and is now 11 points shy of 1,000 for his career. Freshman Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) scored a career-high 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting and junior Dayvon Cuffey (Baltimore, Md./Anne Arundel CC) finished with a double-double by way of 16 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Sophomore Korey Lee (Huntington Station, N.Y./Trinity Pawling) ended the day with eight points and seven rebounds.
New York Tech was led by Jeffrey Hayden who had a team-high 15 points.
The Bears took an early 5-2 lead and led 7-5 after a Hayden layup at the 14:26 mark of the first half. Mercy answered by taking an 11-9 lead after a Griffin three-point play with 13:00 on the clock. A Kyonis Owens layup tied the game up at 11-11 before the Mavericks went on a 7-2 run to retake the lead at 18-13 with 10:58 left in the half.
New York Tech cut the deficit to four, 26-22, with 8:00 left in the half before the Mavericks tallied five straight points from Griffin and Cuffey to build their lead to nine, 31-22. The Bears stormed back on a 10-2 run to trim the Mercy lead to one, 33-32, at the 3:39 mark. The Mavericks quickly answered with a 7-0 run to increase the lead back to eight, 40-32, with just over a minute left in the half. A late three from Laurynas Stonkus made it 40-35 Mercy at halftime.
The Mavericks opened the second half on a 9-1 run, finished off by a Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) three, which put Mercy up 49-36 with 16:32 left. New York Tech cut the lead to nine, 49-40, after a Hayden layup, but the Mavericks came back on a 9-3 run to put the lead up to 15, 58-43, with 11:11 remaining.
The Bears made it 58-51 with 7:30 left to play, but back-to-back baskets from Griffin gave Mercy an 11-point cushion, 62-51, with 5:07 on the clock. New York Tech cut the deficit to seven twice in the final three minutes but could not get closer.
Mercy shot 41.5 percent (27-for-65) from the floor, 27.3 percent (6-for-22) from downtown and 80.0 percent (16-for-20) from the foul line. New York Tech shot 37.1 percent (23-for-62) from the field, 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from beyond the arc and 73.3 percent (11-for-15) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 48-34 edge in rebounds and a 17-5 edge in second chance points.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, February 14th when they play at Roberts Wesleyan at 8 p.m.
