DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 6, 2022) – Despite a double-double from junior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) and a game-high-tying 16 points from senior Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep), the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a 66-64 decision to Chestnut Hill College on Tuesday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (2-6) have lost two games in a row, while the Griffins (3-6) snap a four-game losing streak.
Dewaal had a game-high-tying 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting with a game-high 13 rebounds. Wilson added a game-high-tying 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds. Senior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) netted 13 points and five rebounds and senior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC) contributed five points and six rebounds. Freshman Asa Kone (Bronx, N.Y./Eagle Academy for Young Men) recorded five points and three rebounds.
Chestnut Hill was led by Noah Charles who had a team-high 15 points.
Mercy jumped out to an 8-0 lead at the 17:32 mark of the first half, leading to a Chestnut Hill timeout. Following the timeout, the Griffins cut the Mavericks lead to four, 10-6. Mercy rallied with an 11-4 run to increase their lead to 11, 21-10, with 12 minutes left in the half.
Chestnut Hill later cut the deficit to six, but a layup from Wilson and a three from freshman Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) gave Mercy a 26-15 lead with 8:28 remaining in the half. The Mavericks later increased the lead to a game-high 12 points, 31-19, after a Kirkland layup with 5:20 on the clock. The Griffins followed with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to four, 33-29, but Mercy would head into halftime with a 37-31 lead.
The Mavericks opened the second half on a 7-2 run, capped off by a Dewaal jumper, to take a 44-33 lead with 16:49 left. The Griffins came back on a 9-0 run to get within two, 44-42, before a three from Kirkland gave Mercy a 47-42 lead with 14:19 left. A Dewaal dunk at the 10:58 mark gave the Mavericks a 53-45 lead.
Five straight free throws from Wilson would later give the Mavericks a 58-47 lead with 9:20 left. Chestnut Hill went on a 15-2 run to take the lead at 62-60 with 4:12 remaining after a Charles layup. Wilson evened the score at 62-62 with a layup at the 3:32 mark before Amir Warrick gave the Griffins the lead back at 64-62 with 3:14 to play.
The score remained 64-62 until there was 17 seconds left when Wilson drained a layup out of a timeout to even the score at 64-64. Nigel Haughton drained the game-winning shot with three seconds left to put the Griffins up 66-64. A last second halfcourt shot would not fall and Chestnut Hill came away with the come-from-behind win.
Mercy shot 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the floor, 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from downtown and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the foul line. Chestnut Hill shot 40.6 percent (28-of-69) from the field, 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from beyond the arc and 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 44-40 edge on the glass.
Interim Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, December 9th when they host D'Youville at 7 p.m.
