DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 13, 2021) – Despite a career-high 23 points from junior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought, 83-82, overtime decision to ECC foe Molloy College in their home opener on Saturday afternoon at Victory Hall Sports Center. The game was the first Mercy home event in 340 days due to COVID-19.
The Mavericks (0-3, 0-3 ECC) have dropped three games in a row, while the Lions (2-1, 2-1 ECC) have won two games in a row.
Taylor went 5-for-9 from downtown and had six rebounds and two assists. Freshman Kerwin Prince (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep) had a double-double by way of 11 points and 15 rebounds and sophomore Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) had a season-high 14 points. Freshman Jay Turner (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep) netted 12 points, five rebounds and six assists and junior Elijah Mitchell (Edison, N.J./Monroe College) netted 10 points.
Molloy was led by Frank Phelan who had a team-high 19 points.
In a game that featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties, Mercy took an early 8-6 lead at the 16:42 mark after a Wilson three. Molloy stormed back on a 20-5 run to take a 26-13 lead with 8:36 left in the first half.
The Lions later held a 36-24 lead with 3:10 on the clock, but the Mavericks battled back and closed the half on a 6-0 run to head into halftime down just six, 36-30.
Molloy increased the lead back to seven, 39-32, at the 17:46 mark of the second half. The Mavericks then went on a 9-1 run to take a 41-40 lead with 14:24 left in regulation following a Prince free throw.
The Lions retook the lead and increased their advantage to eight points, 61-53, with 5:20 on the clock. Molloy later held a 65-60 lead at the 3:46 mark but the Mavericks would not quit and went on a 6-0 run finished off by a Turner layup to put Mercy up 66-65 with 2:09 left in regulation.
A James Montgomery free throw tied the game up at 66-66 before senior Dayvon Cuffey (Baltimore, Md./Anne Arundel CC) drained a three to put the hosts up 69-66 with 1:39 left. The two teams traded a pair of free throws to make it 71-68 with 49 seconds left.
On the next Molloy possession, Montgomery missed a three and Cuffey got the rebound and was fouled. Cuffey missed both leading to Phelan making a jumper on the other end to make it 71-70 with 23 seconds left. Turner was fouled on the next Mercy possession and went 1-for-2 to give the Mavericks a 72-70 lead with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. Darren Fergus would tie the game up at 72-72 on a layup with six seconds left and a shot at the buzzer would not fall for Mercy, sending the game into overtime.
The overtime period saw the two teams trade a pair of baskets to make it 76-76 with 3:01 left to play. A Taylor three made it 79-76 but Steven Torre would tie the game up with a three at the 1:21 mark, making it 79-79. A Mitchell layup on the next Mercy possession put the hosts up 81-79 with 57 seconds left. A Montgomery free throw later made it 81-80 in favor of Mercy with 10 seconds left.
Taylor got fouled on the next Mercy possession and went 1-for-2 to increase the Mercy lead to 82-80 with eight seconds left. Phelan came down the court on the next Molloy possession and hit a game-winning three from the left side of the floor with less than a second left to give the Lions an 83-82 win in overtime.
Mercy shot 39.1 percent (27-for-69) from the floor, 34.5 percent (10-for-29) from downtown and 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the foul line. Molloy shot 42.3 percent (30-for-71) from the field, 23.3 percent (7-for-30) from beyond the arc and 61.5 percent (16-for-26) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 46-45 edge in rebounds.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they host Molloy at 1 p.m.
