DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 21, 2022) – Despite a game-high 19 points from junior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC) and a double-double from sophomore Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 66-63 decision to ECC foe D'Youville College on Friday night at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (2-13, 2-6 ECC) have dropped two of their last three games, while the Saints (2-13, 1-6 ECC) earn their first-ever ECC win.
Taylor Jr. added three assists and Dewaal had 17 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Junior Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) netted 13 points and junior Jonathan Lapierre (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) had a career-high eight points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Jay Turner (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep) contributed four points and five rebounds.
D'Youville was led by Mason Putnam who had a team-high 13 points.
A jumper from Wilson at the 6:36 mark of the first half gave Mercy its largest lead of the half, 20-16. The Mavericks later held a 22-18 lead following a Dewaal layup, but the Saints came back on an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the half, 26-22, with two minutes to play.
Mercy regained the lead at 28-26 after a Dewaal layup with 17 seconds on the clock. However, a Latrell Butler jumper right before the intermission sent the teams into halftime tied at 28-28.
D'Youville scored the first points of the second half to take a 30-28 lead with 18:37 to play. The Saints later held a 37-35 lead with 16 minutes left. The Mavericks ensued with a 12-2 run, capped off by a pair of Wilson free throws, to take their largest lead of the game, 47-39, with 12:16 left.
The Saints would answer with a 21-7 run to take the lead back at 60-54 with 1:56 remaining. Taylor Jr. drained two foul shots to get Mercy to within four, 60-56, with 1:45 on the clock. A dunk by Jared Sullivan gave the Saints a six-point lead, 62-56, at the 1:17 mark. The two teams traded a made free throw to bring the score to 63-57 with 48 seconds left.
After a Mercy timeout, Taylor Jr. made a layup to get Mercy within four, 63-59, with 36 seconds on the clock. Sullivan threw the ball to Dewaal in the backcourt and the sophomore found Turner for a layup to cut the D'Youville lead to two, 63-61, with 28 seconds left.
Following a pair of Saints timeouts, Bryson Birdsong was fouled and went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 65-61 with 24 seconds on the clock. Taylor Jr. made it a two-point game again following two free throws with 14 seconds left. Putnam was then fouled and went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Saints a three-point lead, 66-63, with five seconds left. After a D'Youville timeout, a last second game-tying three-point attempt by junior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) rimmed in and out, giving the Saints the victory.
Mercy shot 37.3 percent (25-of-67) from the floor, 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from downtown and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the line. D'Youville shot 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from beyond the arc and 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 37-35 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, January 23rd when they host Daemen at 2 p.m.
