SPARKILL, N.Y. (Feb. 8, 2021) – Despite a game-high 24 points from freshman Kerwin Prince (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a 91-77 decision to No. 14/19 St. Thomas Aquinas College in ECC action on Monday night at Aquinas Hall Gymnasium.

The Mavericks (0-2, 0-2 ECC) have dropped two straight games, while the Spartans (3-0, 3-0 ECC) remain unbeaten on the year.

Prince, named ECC Rookie of the Week earlier in the day, went 10-for-16 from the floor and had six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Junior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC) had a season-high 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting with six rebounds and freshman Justinas Norkus (Vilnius, Lithuania/Millbrook School) had a career-high 10 points in 11 minutes off the bench. Junior Korey Lee (Huntington Station, N.Y./Trinity Pawling) netted nine points, sophomore Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) had eight points and sophomore Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) chipped in seven points.

St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Grant Singleton who had a team-high 19 points.

A Wilson jumper to open the game gave the Mavericks an early 2-0 lead. The Spartans followed with a 10-1 run to build a 10-3 advantage before Lee made a layup to make it 10-5. St. Thomas Aquinas responded with a 17-6 run to increase the lead to 27-11 with 7:27 remaining in the first half.

A Lee layup cut the deficit to 14, 27-13, before the hosts went on a 15-2 run to take a 42-15 lead with 2:58 left in the half. Mercy ended the half on a 6-2 run to head into halftime down, 44-21.

The Spartans opened the second half on a 10-4 spurt to build a 54-25 lead with 17:01 left to play. The hosts later held a 66-40 lead with 10:26 remaining. However, the Mavericks continued to battle and went on a 15-7 run, capped off by a Prince three-point play, to get within 18, 73-55, with 5:44 on the clock.

St. Thomas Aquinas increased the lead back to 21, 81-60, with 4:13 left and held a 90-70 lead with 1:04 remaining. Mercy went on a 7-1 run to make it 91-77 with 24 seconds left after a Prince layup. However, the deficit proved too much to overcome and the Spartans came away with the win.

Mercy shot 45.6 percent (31-for-68) from the floor, 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from downtown and 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 46.2 percent (30-for-65) from the field, 37.5 percent (12-for-32) from beyond the arc and 73.1 percent (19-for-26) from the charity stripe. The Spartans held a 41-35 edge on the glass and Mercy held a 22-10 edge in second chance points.

Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 13th when they host Molloy at 1 p.m.