RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Nov. 13, 2023) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University men's basketball team dropped a 124-98 decision at Felician University on Monday night at Joal and Joseph Job Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (0-3) have lost three games in a row to open the season, while the Golden Falcons (2-1) move over .500 with the win.
Mercy was led by senior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) who had a career-high 32 points on 15-of-18 shooting with a game-high 15 rebounds. Graduate student Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) added a season-high 21 points on seven three-pointers and senior Alex May (Englewood, N.J./St. Francis College (Brooklyn) netted 12 points. Sophomore Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) recorded 11 points and junior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) had seven points and four assists. Sophomore Asa Kone (Bronx, N.Y./Eagle Academy for Young Men) contributed six points and eight rebounds.
Felician was led by Anas Amos who had a team-high 27 points.
A Dewaal layup at the 19:01 mark gave Mercy a 2-0 lead. Felician scored the next 12 points to take a 12-2 lead with 17:31 left in the opening half. Another Dewaal layup with 16:51 on the clock made it 14-6 before the Golden Falcons went on an 18-4 run to build a 32-10 lead with 13:26 remaining in the half.
Mercy cut the deficit to 17, 35-18, with 11:41 on the clock after a Dewaal layup before the hosts stormed back on a 34-14 run to increase their lead to a game-high 37 points, 69-32, with 2:12 remaining in the half. A Kone jumper made it 69-34 at halftime.
The Mavericks opened the second half on a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to 24, 73-49, with 15:17 left after a pair of May three throws. Felician answered by putting the lead back to 31, 83-52, with 13:48 remaining. Mercy continued to battle and cut the Felician lead to 21, 92-71, with 10:22 left after a Braelon Joe (Houston, Texas/Monroe College) free throw.
However, that was the closest Mercy could get and Felician led by double digits the rest of the way to earn the 124-98 win.
Mercy shot 47.6 percent (40-of-84) from the floor, 37.5 percent (12-of-32) from downtown and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from the foul line. Felician shot 50.0 percent (43-of-86) from the field, 47.9 percent (23-of-48) from beyond the arc and 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the charity stripe. Felician held a 48-41 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, November 15th when they host Southern Connecticut State in their home opener at 7 p.m.
