SPARKILL, N.Y. (Dec. 2, 2023) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University men's basketball team dropped a 106-74 decision to RV/#16 St. Thomas Aquinas College in their ECC opener on Saturday afternoon at Aquinas Hall Gym.
The Mavericks (0-8, 0-1 ECC) have dropped eight games in a row to open the season, while the Spartans (8-1, 1-0 ECC) have won 22 straight meetings against Mercy.
Mercy was led by senior Alex May (Englewood, N.J./St. Francis College (Brooklyn) who scored a career-high and game-high-tying 20 points with three assists and two steals. Sophomore Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) recorded a career-high-tying 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds and senior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Graduate student Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) netted 10 points and junior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) contributed six points.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by James Patterson who had a game-high-tying 20 points.
The Spartans jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the 17:04 mark of the first half before Mercy went on a 7-3 run to cut the deficit to five, 14-9, after a May jumper with 15:58 on the clock. St. Thomas Aquinas later built the lead to eight, 21-13, before a pair of Chiles free throws made it 21-15 with 11:56 left in the half.
St. Thomas Aquinas stormed back on an 18-2 run to take a 39-17 lead with 6:40 remaining in the first half. A May jumper at the 2:21 mark cut the Spartans lead to 19, 51-32, but the hosts ended the half on a 9-3 run to take a 60-35 lead at halftime.
The Spartans began the second half on a 19-8 run to increase their lead to 36, 79-43, with 13:53 remaining. Mercy continued to battle and followed with a 12-0 run, capped off by a pair of Conroy free throws, to cut the St. Thomas Aquinas lead to 24, 79-55, with 11:24 left. The Spartans quickly ensued with a 16-6 run to put the lead back to 34, 95-61, at the 6:31 mark.
The Spartans built the lead to a game-high 37 points, 106-69, with 2:13 on the clock and led by double-digits the rest of the way to earn the 106-74 win.
Mercy shot 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the floor, 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from downtown and 80.0 percent (20-of-25) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 52.9 percent (37-of-70) from the field, 50.0 percent (14-of-28) from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent (18-of-26) from the charity stripe. St. Thomas Aquinas held a 49-37 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, December 6th when they host Staten Island at 7 p.m.
