DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 6, 2022) – For the seventh year, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2021-22 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Wednesday and Friday for the next five weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2021-22 athletic year being unveiled on Friday, August 5th.
No. 10 – Men's Basketball Sweeps Molloy for First Time Since 2005
Coming in at No. 10 in our 2021-22 Top-10 Moments is men's basketball who swept the season series with Molloy for the first time since 2005 and just missed on qualifying for the ECC Championship.
The Mavericks entered their first matchup with Molloy at 0-11 on January 10th. Mercy had not won at Molloy since 2005 entering the contest. The Lions took a 10-6 lead with 17 minutes left in the opening half before a 6-2 run by Mercy tied the game at 12-12. Molloy later took a four-point lead before James Taylor Jr. drained a three to make it 20-19 in favor of the hosts at the 11:19 mark.
The Lions followed with a 13-4 run to take a 33-23 lead with 5:41 remaining in the opening half. Molloy later took their largest lead of the game, 42-30, with 1:46 on the clock. The Mavericks looked to be headed to a 12th straight loss to open the season, but a three from Garrett Kirkland and a layup by Brandon Wilson gave Mercy hope at halftime trailing, 42-35.
Molloy increased the lead back to 10, 52-42, with 14:41 remaining in the game. The Lions later held a five-point lead, 68-63, with 6:40 left in the game. Mercy regrouped and stormed back on a 13-0 run, capped off by a Wilson three, to give the Mavericks a 76-68 lead with 1:47 left. Mercy's defense held the Lions to just four points in the final seven minutes of action and ended the game on a 19-4 run to earn their first win of the season. Mercy outscored Molloy 47-30 in the second half to complete the comeback.
The Mavericks were led by Taylor Jr. who had 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from downtown and by Wilson who had 17 points and five rebounds. Jay Turner had 17 points and Jayden Dewaal had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Mercy failed to build off their win over the Lions, falling 78-53 to Staten Island just two days later on January 12th. However, the Mavericks regrouped and earned a 63-50 win over UDC at home on January 15th. Dewaal had 19 points and 20 rebounds in the win and Taylor Jr. added 17 points.
The Mavericks went on to drop their next five games against ECC opponents, losing their top two scorers to injuries. Mercy entered their February 9th game at Queens on a five-game losing streak, but snapped the skid with a 65-51 road win against the Knights. Elijah Mitchell led the way with 19 points and Kirkland had 13 points. Mercy went on a 21-1 run in the first half to build a 31-9 lead and did not look back in earning the win.
Mercy looked to have found their game after the win over Queens as they earned a 78-74 win over Molloy in Dobbs Ferry on February 12th. The win over Molloy gave Mercy a season series sweep over the Lions for the first time since 2005. The victory also gave Mercy their most ECC wins in a season since 2019. Kirkland had a team-high 24 points, Dewaal had 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds and Alex May had 14 points.
The Mavericks continued to roll, extending their win streak to three games with an 80-58 win over D'Youville on February 18th. It was the first three-game winning streak for Mercy since 2017. Kirkland had a career-high 41 points on 15-of-26 shooting overall and 8-of-16 shooting from downtown. He had 28 points in the second half alone. The eight threes were also a new career high for Kirkland. Mercy was up just two at halftime but outscored the Saints, 53-33, in the second half to pull away for the win.
Mercy saw their winning streak come to an end on February 20th when they fell to nationally-ranked Daemen on the road. The Mavericks regrouped and earned a 71-64 Senior Night win over Staten Island on February 23rd to put themselves back in the ECC Championship picture. Mitchell had a team-high 16 points with seven rebounds and a game-high six assists and Dewaal had 12 points. Korey Lee and Amadou Camara along with Mitchell were honored prior to the game for Senior Night and combined for 30 points to help lead the Mavericks to the win. Following the win, Mercy sat just one game out of the sixth and final ECC Championship spot with one game to play.
The Mavericks battled against UDC on February 26th but ultimately fell, 80-71, to see their season come to an end. After starting the season 0-11, Mercy went 6-8 over their last 14 games and 4-2 in their last six games to give themselves a chance at qualifying for the ECC Championship. The six ECC wins were the most for Mercy since the 2018-19 season and the six overall wins were the most in a season since 2018-19.
The future looks bright for the Mavericks and head coach Michael Maczko as they return several contributors from last year's team and add a strong recruiting class to the fold.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2021-22 Season
Every Wednesday and Friday for the next five weeks, the Mercy College Athletic Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Wednesday, July 6th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Friday, August 5th.
No. 1 - August 5th
No. 2 - August 3rd
No. 3 - July 29th
No. 4 - July 27th
No. 5 - July 22nd
No. 6 - July 20th
No. 7 - July 15th
No. 8 - July 13th
No. 9 - July 8th
No. 10 - July 6th
