SPARKILL, N.Y. (Jan. 11, 2023) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a 116-79 decision to ECC foe No. 18 St. Thomas Aquinas College on Wednesday night at Aquinas Hall Gym.
The Mavericks (2-12, 1-5 ECC) have dropped eight games in a row and fall to the Spartans (15-2, 6-0 ECC) for the 20th straight time.
Graduate student Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./University of New Haven) led Mercy with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting with six rebounds and three steals. Senior James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC) had 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with three assists and junior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Ontario/Trinidad State Junior College) had 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting with a team-high nine rebounds. Senior Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) netted nine points and freshman Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Bishop McNamara) recorded eight points. Senior Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep) produced six points and junior Damani Scott (Mansfield, Mass./Quincy College) contributed five points. Junior Braelon Joe (Houston, Texas/Monroe College) had a team-high five assists.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by James Patterson who had a team-high 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Spartans scored the game's first six points and held a 12-3 lead at the 17:48 mark of the first half. A jumper from Smith Jr. and a three from Kirkland made it 12-8 with 16:11 left in the first half. A Taylor Jr. jumper later made it 14-10 in favor of the hosts. However, the Spartans followed with a 35-9 run to take a 49-19 lead with 4:48 remaining in the opening half.
St. Thomas Aquinas later increased the lead to 31, 54-23, with 3:50 on the clock. Mercy ended the half on an 11-5 run, capped off by a Dewaal jumper, to head into halftime down, 59-34.
The Spartans recorded the first eight points of the second half to take a 67-34 lead with 18:43 remaining. Mercy netted the next seven points to make it 67-41 after a Smith Jr. three with 17:06 on the clock. A Conroy three later cut the Spartans lead to 24, 73-49, with 13:27 to play.
St. Thomas Aquinas built the lead to a game-high 45 points, 112-67, with 2:21 left and led the rest of the way to secure the win.
Mercy shot 45.5 percent (30-of-66) from the floor, 40.0 percent (10-of-25) from downtown and 90.0 percent (9-of-10) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 55.1 percent (43-of-78) from the field, 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (21-of-28) from the charity stripe. The Spartans held a 45-29 edge on the glass and used 23 Mercy turnovers to hold a 31-14 edge in points off turnovers.
Interim Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 18th when they play at Molloy at 7 p.m.
