FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Dec. 30, 2023) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 92-63 decision at Division I Sacred Heart University in an Exhibition in their final game of 2023 on Saturday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center.
The game does not count towards Mercy's record but does count towards the Pioneers (6-9). Sacred Heart has won two games in a row and take the first matchup between the two schools since 1992.
Mercy was led by graduate student Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) who had a team-high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from downtown. Junior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) recorded 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a team-high five assists and senior Alex May (Englewood, N.J./St. Francis College (Brooklyn) netted 13 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds. Senior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) contributed nine points, a team-high-tying seven rebounds and a team-high three blocks. Freshman Zein Wahdan (Alexandria, Egypt/Springfield Commonwealth Academy) produced six points and senior Jay Turner (Waterbury, Conn./Notre Dame West Haven Prep) chipped in two points.
Sacred Heart was led by Aidan Carpenter who had a game-high 19 points.
Mercy held their lone lead of the game, 4-2, at the 18:21 mark of the first half after a May layup. The Pioneers scored the next seven points to take a 9-4 lead. A May three with 15:50 left in the opening half cut Sacred Heart's lead to two, 11-9. The Pioneers stormed back on a 7-2 run to increase the lead to seven, 18-11, with 12:10 left in the half.
A Kirkland three at the 11:08 mark trimmed the Pioneers lead to just three, 20-17. Sacred Heart broke open the game with a 19-0 run to take a 39-17 lead with 5:14 remaining in the half. The Mavericks continued to battle and went on a 10-2 run, capped off by a Chiles three-point play, to cut the hosts lead to 14, 41-27, with 2:24 on the clock. Sacred Heart netted the next five points to increase the lead back to 19, 46-27, before two free throws from May made it 46-29 at halftime.
Sacred Heart opened the second half on a 22-9 run to increase their lead to 30, 68-38, with 13:15 left to play. A Chiles layup at the 11:03 mark cut the Pioneers lead to 24, 70-46, but the hosts followed with a 17-4 run to take their largest lead of the game, 87-50, with 6:34 remaining.
The Mavericks continued to play hard and ended the game on a 13-5 run, finished off by a Wahdan layup, to make the final score respectable at 92-63.
Mercy shot 34.8 percent (23-of-66) from the floor, 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from downtown and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the foul line. Sacred Heart shot 50.7 percent (36-of-71) from the field, 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from beyond the arc and 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 42-41 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 3rd when they host Cheyney in their first game of 2024 at 7 p.m.
