FLUSHING, N.Y. (Feb. 9, 2022) – Powered by a game-high 19 points from junior Elijah Mitchell (Edison, N.J./Monroe College), the Mercy College men's basketball team earned a 65-51 win over ECC foe Queens College on Wednesday night at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (3-17, 3-10 ECC) snap a five-game losing streak and earn a season series split with the third-place Knights (8-7, 6-5 ECC). Mercy wins at Queens for the second straight time.
Mitchell went 9-of-14 from the floor and had seven rebounds. Junior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) added 13 points and sophomore Jay Turner (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep) had nine points and five rebounds. Sophomore Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) netted eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore Justinas Norkus (Vilnius, Lithuania/Millbrook School) recorded seven points and sophomore Alex May (Englewood, N.J./St. Francis College (Brooklyn)) finished with five points. Senior Amadou Camara (Harlem, N.Y./Monroe College) chipped in four points and a game-high-tying four assists.
Queens was led by Malik Bentinck who had a team-high 15 points.
Mercy jumped out to a 10-6 lead at the 15:48 mark following a Norkus layup. Tyler Carey followed with a layup to cut the Mavericks lead to two, 10-8. Mercy responded with a 21-1 run, capped off by a Dewaal layup, to take their largest lead of the game, 31-9, with 7:20 left in the half.
Queens scored the next six points to trim Mercy's lead to 16, 31-15, with 1:37 on the clock. A Mitchell layup with 53 seconds on the clock gave the Mavericks a 33-15 lead at halftime. Mercy held the Knights to just 18 percent shooting in the first half.
A Mitchell layup at the 17:11 mark of the second half gave Mercy a 21-point lead, 40-19. Queens went on a 22-8 run to cut the Mercy lead to just seven, 48-41, with 7:49 remaining. May provided a three-point play on the next Maverick possession to give Mercy a 10-point lead, 51-41. Norkus followed with two free throws to increase the Mavericks lead to 12, 53-41, with just under seven minutes left.
The Knights later cut the deficit to nine, 56-47, at the 4:52 mark. However, Mercy scored the next six points, finished off by a Mitchell layup, to give the Mavericks a 62-47 lead with 1:36 remaining. Queens could not get closer than 11 points and Mercy came away with the road win.
Mercy shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, 30.0 percent (3-of-10) from downtown and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the foul line. Queens shot 25.7 percent (18-of-70) from the field, 6.3 percent (1-of-16) from beyond the arc and 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the charity stripe. Queens held a 47-42 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 12th when they host Molloy at 2 p.m.
