DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 9, 2022) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped an 89-82 decision to ECC foe D'Youville University on Friday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (2-7, 1-2 ECC) have dropped three games in a row and lose to the Saints (3-6, 2-1 ECC) for the second straight year in Dobbs Ferry.
Junior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) had a team-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a game-high nine rebounds and senior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) added 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from downtown. Graduate student Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./University of New Haven) netted 13 points and five rebounds and senior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC) had 11 points. Freshman Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) contributed eight points and senior Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) chipped in seven points, six rebounds and three assists.
D'Youville was led by Will Kondrat who had a game-high 30 points.
The score was tied at 7-7 with 16:21 left in the first half before Mercy went on a 14-4 run, capped off by a Conroy jumper, to take a 21-11 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. The Mavericks later held a 26-16 lead after a Korey Lee (Huntington Station, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) free throw with 8:34 on the clock.
The Saints cut the deficit to seven, 28-21, with 6:42 remaining in the half before back-to-back baskets from Dewaal and Smith Jr. gave Mercy a 32-21 lead at the 4:44 mark. A Kirkland three with 2:37 on the clock gave the Mavericks a 13-point lead, 40-27, with 2:37 left in the half. Nelson St. Louis answered with a three, but Wilson followed with a three-point play to again give Mercy a 13-point lead, 43-30, with 1:34 on the clock. D'Youville went on an 8-0 run to cut the Mavericks lead to five, 43-38. However, Smith Jr. drained a pair of free throws to give Mercy a 45-38 lead at halftime.
Mercy held a 50-43 lead with 18 minutes to play after a Taylor Jr. jumper. The Saints rallied with an 11-0 run to take a 54-50 lead with 15:31 left. Kondrat gave D'Youville a five-point lead, 59-54, after a free throw with 11:46 remaining.
The Mavericks battled back with an 11-2 run, finished off by a Taylor Jr. three, to retake the lead at 65-61 with 8:55 to go. D'Youville followed with a 7-0 spurt to take a 68-65 lead before Kirkland nailed another three to tie the game at 68-68 with 6;39 left. Mercy regained the lead at 76-75 with 2:27 left after a Dewaal layup. A Renard Fontes Jules free throw would tie the game again at 76-76 with 2:10 to play.
After a missed free throw by the Mavericks, Luke Theisen drained a trifecta with 1:46 on the clock to give the guests a 79-76 lead. Dewaal went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 79-78 before Theisen went 2-of-2 to make it a three-point game, 81-78, with 1:21 left.
Following two missed layups by the Mavericks, Kondrat would drive to the basket with the shot clock winding down and drain a layup to give the Saints an 83-78 lead with 31 seconds left. Junior Braelon Joe (Houston, Texas/Monroe College) got the Mavericks back to within three, 83-80, with 23 seconds left. Theisen went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 85-80 and he would come up with a steal and layup to give the Saints an 87-80 advantage with 10 seconds left. Dewaal made it 87-82 following a layup with eight seconds remaining, but Kondrat would go 2-of-2 from the line to finish off the win for D'Youville.
Mercy shot 44.8 percent (30-of-67) from the floor, 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from downtown and 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the foul line. D'Youville shot 55.9 percent (33-of-59) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc and 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 35-29 edge on the glass.
Interim Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, December 11th when they host Daemen at 2 p.m.
