BUFFALO, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2022) – Powered by a career-high 41 points from junior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara), the Mercy College men's basketball team earned an 80-58 win over D'Youville University on Friday night at College Center Gym.
The Mavericks (5-17, 5-10 ECC) have now won three games in a row for the first time since 2017 and are just one game out of the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot. The Saints (2-22, 1-13 ECC) have now lost eight games in a row.
Kirkland went 15-of-26 from the floor and went 8-of-16 from downtown in 36 minutes, recording 28 points in the second half alone. The eight threes are a new career-high for Kirkland. Junior Elijah Mitchell (Edison, N.J./Monroe College) added 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds and sophomore Alex May (Englewood, N.J./St. Francis College (Brooklyn) netted eight points. Sophomore Jay Turner (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep) recorded six points and a team-high-tying six rebounds.
D'Youville was led by Chris Stineman who had a team-high 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Saints jumped out to a 19-11 lead with 9:10 left in the first half. The Mavericks responded with a 14-4 run, capped off by a Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Ontario/Trinidad State Junior College) layup, to take a 25-23 lead at the 2:53 mark. A Noah Denz layup tied the game at 25-25, but Mitchell drained a jumper right before halftime to give the Mavericks a 27-25 lead at intermission.
Mercy scored the first five points of the second half to take a 32-25 lead after a Kirkland layup. The Saints cut the deficit to two, 33-31, with 16:58 remaining. The Mavericks stormed back on a 20-4 run, finished off by a May trifecta, that gave Mercy a 53-35 lead with 10:37 left.
D'Youville trimmed the Mercy lead to 14, 57-43, with 5:44 on the clock. The Mavericks scored the next eight points, finished off by a Kirkland triple, to take a 65-43 lead with 4:28 left to play. Another three from Kirkland gave Mercy a 23-point lead, 73-50, at the 2:25 mark. Jonathan Lapierre (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) and Ryan Ritch (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) both drained baskets in the final minute of action to give Mercy a game-high 24-point lead. A late Jaeger Martino layup cut the Mavericks lead to 22, 80-58, and Mercy earned the win after outscoring the Saints 53-33 in the second half.
Mercy shot 42.9 percent (30-of-70) from the floor, 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from downtown and 90.0 percent (9-of-10) from the foul line. D'Youville shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the field, 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from beyond the arc and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the charity stripe. D'Youville held a 44-37 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, February 20th when they play at No. 24 Daemen at 2 p.m.
