DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 25, 2022) – The Mercy College men's basketball team plays at University of the District of Columbia in their regular season finale on Saturday, February 26th at 3 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, February 26th 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (6-18, 6-11 ECC), District of Columbia (8-19, 7-10 ECC)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Last Meeting
Mercy earned a 63-50 win over UDC on January 15, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 71-64 Senior Night win over Staten Island on Wednesday. The Mavericks were led by senior Elijah Mitchell who had a team-high 16 points. Sophomore Jayden Dewaal netted 12 points and junior Garrett Kirkland had 11 points. The Mavericks sit a game behind UDC for the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot. Mercy needs to beat UDC and needs two Bridgeport losses to earn a spot in the ECC Tournament. The Mavericks are looking to sweep the season series with the Firebirds for the first time since the 2015-16 season. Mercy with a win would have their most ECC wins in a season since the 2015-16 season. 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. Mercy is currently led by junior James Taylor Jr. who averages a team-high 13.2 points per game and has scored in double figures in 13 of the 19 games he has played in. Senior Elijah Mitchell is third on the team with 10.4 points per game and leads the team with 2.5 assists and 1.7 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 four times and MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention twice. He is shooting a team-best 41.1 percent from downtown and has a team-high 60 threes on the year. Sophomore Jayden Dewaal was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 18th and averages 10.2 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game and 1.5 blocks per game in nine starts. He has been named to the ECC Honor Roll once and is third in the ECC in rebounds per game.
Scouting the Firebirds
UDC is coming off a 113-73 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday. The Firebirds were picked fifth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 11-17 in 2019-20. UDC currently sits a game ahead of the Mavericks for the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot and a game and a half ahead of Bridgeport. UDC is led by junior Kenyon Stone who averages a team-high 16.6 points per game on a team-best 55.5 percent shooting. Junior Juanye Colon is averaging 10.3 points per game and two-time ECC Player of the Week junior Jahmir Marable-Williams is averaging 12.2 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds per game and a team-high 5.7 assists per game. One-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week freshman Hartnel Haye posts 11.5 points per game and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
