DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 17, 2022) – Despite double-doubles from graduate student Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./University of New Haven) and junior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Ontario/Trinidad State Junior College), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a 66-58 decision to Saint Michael's College on Saturday afternoon at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.

The Mavericks (2-9) have lost five games in a row, while the Purple Knights (7-5) snap a four-game losing streak.

Smith Jr. had a team-high 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting with 11 rebounds and Dewaal had 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior Braelon Joe (Houston, Texas/Monroe College) netted 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting with five assists and junior Damani Scott (Mansfield, Mass./Quincy College) contributed seven points. Senior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) recorded six points and freshman Asa Kone (Bronx, N.Y./Eagle Academy for Young Men) produced five points.

Saint Michael's was led by Kasai Brown who had a game-high 19 points.

The Purple Knights jumped out to a 13-3 lead with 13:39 left in the first half. Saint Michael's later held a 21-12 lead at the 9:50 mark before Mercy rallied with a 10-0 run, capped off by a Joe three, to take a 22-21 lead with 5:32 remaining in the half.

Saint Michael's closed the half on a 13-4 run to take a 34-26 lead at halftime.

The Purple Knights scored the first five points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game, 39-26, with 18:30 remaining. Mercy stormed back on a 9-0 run, finished off by a Kirkland three, to cut the visitors lead to four, 39-35, with 14:04 left.

Saint Michael's increased the lead back to nine, 48-39, with 9:41 on the clock. Mercy answered with a 15-5 run, topped off by another Kirkland three, to retake the lead at 54-53 with 3:30 left in the game. Five straight points from Romar Reid and another basket from Brown gave the Purple Knights a 60-54 lead with 1:54 left. Smith Jr. answered with a basket to make it 60-56, but Brown followed with a dunk on the other end to give the visitors a 62-56 lead with 50 seconds left. The Purple Knights went 4-of-4 from the line and withstood a late Dewaal bucket to come away with the win.

Mercy shot 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the floor, 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from downtown and 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from the charity stripe. Saint Michael's shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field, 29.0 percent (9-of-31) from beyond the arc and 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the foul line. Mercy held a 50-34 edge on the glass.

Interim Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Thursday, December 29th when they play at Southern Connecticut State at 3:30 p.m.