DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 19, 2022) – The Mercy College men's basketball team plays at No. 24 Daemen College on Sunday, February 20th at 2 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Sunday, February 20th 2 p.m.
Records: Mercy (5-17, 5-10 ECC), No. 24 Daemen (17-7, 14-1 ECC)
Location: Amherst, N.Y.
Last Meeting
Daemen earned a 76-59 win at Mercy on January 23, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off an 80-58 win over D'Youville for their third straight win. The Mavericks were led by junior Garrett Kirkland who had a career-high 41 points on 15-of-26 shooting from the floor and 8-of-16 shooting from downtown. Junior Elijah Mitchell added 10 points and sophomore Alex May netted eight points. Mercy has won three games in a row for the first time since 2017 and is looking to win four games in a row for the first time since 2017. Mercy is looking for their first-ever win over Daemen. The Mavericks enter Sunday's game 0-17 all-time against the Wildcats. Mercy was picked seventh in the ECC Coaches' Poll after going 2-5 in 2021. The top six teams in the ECC standings qualify for the ECC Tournament. Mercy made their first ECC Tournament appearance since 2016 last season. The Mavericks currently sit one game out of the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot. Mercy is currently led by junior James Taylor Jr. who averages a team-high 13.7 points per game and has scored in double figures in 13 of the 18 games he has played in. Junior Elijah Mitchell is fifth on the team with 10.1 points per game and leads the team with 2.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Junior Brandon Wilson has been named to the ECC Honor Roll twice and is second on the team averaging 11.2 points per game. He is second on the team shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games. Junior Garrett Kirkland is fourth on the team with 10.3 points per game and has been named to the ECC Honor Roll three times and MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention once. He is shooting a team-best 41.2 percent from downtown and has a team-high 54 threes on the year. Sophomore Jayden Dewaal was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 18th and averages 10.4 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds per game and 1.7 blocks per game in nine starts. He has been named to the ECC Honor Roll once and is second in the ECC in rebounds per game.
Scouting the Wildcats
Daemen is coming off a 75-70 overtime loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday. The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak and was their first ECC loss of the season. Daemen earned their third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and captured their first regional title last March. Daemen is currently ranked No. 24 nationally in the NABC Coaches' Poll and is receiving votes in the D2SIDA Media Poll. The Wildcats are currently ranked fifth in the first NCAA East Regional Rankings and are ranked third in the latest D2SIDA East Region Poll. The Wildcats were picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll and are led by two-time All-American graduate student Andrew Sischo. Sischo is the active scoring (2,758) and rebounding (1,422) leader among all NCAA Division II players. He was named ECC Preseason Player of the Year for the fourth time and currently leads the ECC in points per game (22.3) and rebounds per game (13.4). Sischo has been named ECC Player of the Week seven times this season. Graduate student Sean Fasoyiro also averages double figures with 12.6 points per game and sophomore Andrew Mason posts 9.7 points per game with a team-high 2.5 made threes per game. Junior Joey Atkins and junior Ryan Salzberg have both been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week once this season.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Wednesday, February 23rd when they host Staten Island for Senior Night at 7 p.m.
