SPARKILL, N.Y. (Nov. 12, 2022) – Despite a double-double from junior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College), the Mercy College men's basketball team opened its 2022-23 season with a 78-71 setback to Felician University on Saturday night at Aquinas Hall Gym.
The Mavericks (0-1) fall to the 2022 NCAA Tournament participants Golden Falcons (1-0) for the third straight time.
Dewaal had a team-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior Braelon Joe (Houston, Texas/Monroe College) added 15 points and six rebounds in his Mercy debut and freshman Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) chipped in nine points in his collegiate debut. Senior Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) and graduate student Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./University of New Haven) netted eight points apiece and senior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC) had seven points and a game-high four assists.
Felician was led by Jaylen Colon who had a game-high 19 points.
Felician jumped out to a 10-2 lead at the 16:23 mark of the first half. The Golden Falcons later held a 17-12 lead with 12:52 on the clock before Mercy stormed back on a 12-3 run, capped off by a Smith Jr. dunk, to take a 24-20 lead with nine minutes left in the half.
The Golden Falcons tied the score at 28-28 after an Etnik Peci jumper with 3:54 on the clock. Wilson gave the Mavericks the lead back at 31-28 after a three. However, Felician closed the half on a 6-1 run to head into halftime with a 34-32 lead.
Felician opened the second half with six straight points to take a 40-32 lead with 18:41 remaining. A Dewaal layup at the 13:03 mark cut the Felician lead to five, 50-45. Seven unanswered points by the Golden Falcons gave Felician their largest lead of the game at 57-45 with 12 minutes left.
The Golden Falcons held a 64-53 edge with 6:11 left before Mercy battled back on an 11-3 run, capped off by a Taylor Jr. layup, to get within three, 67-64, with 3:31 left. Felician followed with four straight points to extend the lead back to seven, 71-64, with two minutes to play. Dewaal made a pair of free throws to cut the Felician lead to five, 71-66. Jonathan Edwards went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Golden Falcons a six-point lead, 72-66, with 1:22 on the clock. Joe nailed a trifecta to get Mercy back within a possession at 72-69 with one minute left. Colon and Dewaal traded baskets to make it 74-71 with 24 seconds remaining. Colon went 4-of-4 from the line in the final 11 seconds and Felician held Mercy scoreless to come away with the 78-71 win.
Mercy shot 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the floor, 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from downtown and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the foul line. Felician shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent (18-of-26) from the charity stripe. Felician held a 41-39 edge on the glass.
Interim Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they face Alliance University at 3 p.m. at STAC.
