DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 22, 2023) – Powered by a combined 43 points from the seniors on Senior Night, the Mercy College men's basketball team earned an 83-76 win over ECC foe Molloy University on Wednesday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
In a ceremony prior to the game, seniors Brandon Wilson (Farmingdale, N.J./Covenant College Prep), James Taylor Jr. (South Chesterfield, Va./Neosho County CC), Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) and Jonathan Lapierre (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) were recognized for their contributions to the program.
The Mavericks (6-19, 3-12 ECC) have won three of their last four games and match their win total from last season. Mercy earns a season split with the Lions (11-16, 10-5 ECC) and have beaten Molloy four out of the last five meetings.
Mercy was led by Taylor Jr. who had a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds and four assists. Junior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) had 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and graduate student Sean Smith Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y./University of New Haven) had 13 points and nine rebounds. Kirkland had nine points and Wilson added eight points. Lapierre contributed six points and junior Braelon Joe (Houston, Texas/Monroe College) netted five points. Freshman Asa Kone (Bronx, N.Y./Eagle Academy for Young Men) produced three points and graduate student Korey Lee (Huntington Station, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) had two points.
Molloy was led by Darren Fergus who had a game-high 33 points.
Mercy jumped out to an early 10-4 lead with 16:59 left in the half after a Taylor Jr. three. The Lions later cut the deficit to five, 26-21, with 8:56 on the clock before the Mavericks went on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Smith Jr. layup, to take a 34-21 lead with six minutes left in the half.
A Billy Reyes three for Molloy cut Mercy's lead to six, 36-30, with two minutes left. A Taylor Jr. three and two Wilson free throws made it 41-30. A late Fergus free throw cut Mercy's lead to 10, 41-31, at halftime.
Molloy opened the second half on a 17-10 run to cut Mercy's lead to three, 51-48, with 15:31 remaining. The Mavericks answered with a 21-8 run to take their largest lead of the game, 72-56, with 6:39 to play.
The Lions battled back on a 19-4 run to cut the Mavericks lead to just one, 76-75, with 1:32 left. After a pair of missed free throws from Molloy, Lapierre drained a jumper with 58 seconds left to put Mercy up three, 78-75. After a missed Jake Lynch three, Smith Jr. corralled the rebound and went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 80-75 with 39 seconds left. Fergus went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 80-76 with 30 seconds remaining. The Mavericks defense would hold Molloy scoreless for the remainder of the game and Smith Jr. made three free throws to give Mercy the Senior Night win.
Mercy shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the floor, 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from downtown and 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the foul line. Molloy shot 40.3 percent (27-of-67) from the floor, 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from beyond the arc and 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the charity stripe. Molloy held a 42-35 edge on the glass.
Interim Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 25th when they play at Queens at 1:30 p.m.
