DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 10, 2023) – For the eighth year, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2022-23 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next four weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2022-23 athletic year being unveiled on Monday, July 31st.
No. 10 – Men's Basketball Sweeps Bridgeport for First Time Since 2005
Coming in at No. 10 in our 2022-23 Top-10 Moments is men's basketball who swept the season series with Bridgeport for the first time since 2005.
The Mavericks and Purple Knights used to meet up as ECC foes twice a season, but Bridgeport moved to the CACC ahead of the 2022-23 season. Mercy entered the first meeting of the season 0-3 under Interim Head Coach Chris Watts. Bridgeport entered the November 22nd meeting 3-0 and regionally-ranked. The game served as the Mavericks 2022-23 home opener and Mercy had not beaten the Purple Knights since 2013.
The score was tied at 6-6 after a James Taylor Jr. layup with 17:52 left in the first half. Bridgeport answered with a 12-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 18-8, with 13:31 left in the half.
The Purple Knights later held a 20-10 lead before Mercy answered with a 12-2 run, capped off by a Jayden Dewaal layup, to tie the score at 22-22 with nine minutes left in the half. Bridgeport later regained the lead and built it up to five, 32-27, with 4:44 remaining in the half.
A Brandon Wilson jumper at the 1:13 mark capped a 6-0 Mercy run to give the Mavericks a 33-32 lead. The teams traded baskets and Mercy headed into halftime with a 35-34 lead.
A Garrett Kirkland three at the 18:06 mark of the second half gave Mercy a 40-36 lead. Bridgeport scored the next six points to retake the lead at 42-40 with 17:24 left. Taylor Jr. later gave the Mavericks a three-point lead, 49-46, after a layup with 13:35 remaining in the game.
Bridgeport battled back and took a 60-55 lead with 6:54 remaining. The Purple Knights later held a 63-60 lead with 5:15 left before back-to-back threes from Kirkland and Sean Conroy gave Mercy a 66-63 lead with 4:28 to play.
A Sean Smith Jr. trifecta at the 3:12 mark gave Mercy a 73-69 lead. Bridgeport answered with four straight points to tie the game at 73-73 with two minutes left. The score was later tied at 77-77 before Dewaal drained a layup with 40 seconds left to give Mercy a 79-77 lead. After a defensive stand by the Mavericks, Wilson was fouled and went 2-of-2 from the line to put Mercy up four, 81-77, with 19 seconds remaining. The Mavericks once again came up with another defensive stand and Taylor Jr. went 1-of-2 from the line to give Mercy an 82-77 lead they would not surrender.
Taylor Jr. ended the game with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and Smith Jr. had 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Dewaal added a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Kirkland had 11 points. Wilson netted 12 points and Conroy produced six points.
The win gave Watts his first win as Mercy's head coach, first collegiate head coaching win and snapped a 15-game losing streak to Bridgeport. Following the win, Dewaal was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and Conroy was tabbed Rookie of the Week.
The two teams would meet again on February 11th in Bridgeport. Mercy entered the second matchup at 3-17 and the Purple Knights sat at 10-13. The Mavericks had not won at Bridgeport since 2005 and were looking to sweep the season series with the Purple Knights for the first time since the 2004-05 season when both teams were members of the ECC.
The Purple Knights jumped out to a 7-6 lead with 14:25 left in the first half before Mercy answered with an 8-0 run, capped off by a Korey Lee layup, to take a 14-7 lead with 11:54 left in the opening half. Bridgeport later made it a three-point game, 19-16, after a Joshua Dennis layup at the 8:15 mark.
The Mavericks stormed back on a 9-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 28-18, after a pair of Smith Jr. free throws with 5:40 on the clock. Mercy later held a 31-21 lead before an 8-0 run by the Purple Knights cut the Mercy lead to two, 31-29, with 3:58 left in the half. A Wilson jumper would cap a 9-2 run that increased Mercy's lead to nine, 40-31, with two minutes remaining in the half.
Bridgeport followed with a 7-0 run to cut the Mavericks lead to two, but a Conroy three right before halftime gave Mercy a 43-38 lead at halftime.
The Purple Knights opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 47-43 lead with 16:55 left. Bridgeport looked to be pulling away, but the Mavericks had other plans as they came back on a 12-3 run, finished off by a Smith Jr. three-point play, to take a 55-50 lead with 14:43 left. Bridgeport later made it 59-55 before Smith Jr. and Jonathan Lapierre recorded back-to-back baskets to give Mercy a 63-55 lead with 10:42 remaining.
A Smith Jr. layup at the 7:23 mark later gave the Mavericks a 69-60 lead. Bridgeport followed with a 7-0 spurt to again cut the deficit to two, 69-67, with five minutes left. Taylor Jr. quickly answered with a layup and Smith Jr. added a jumper after a steal to put Mercy up, 73-67, with 4:30 on the clock. A Matt Turner three for Bridgeport made it 73-70 with three minutes left.
The two teams traded empty possessions before Lee drained a layup to put the Mavericks up five, 75-70, with one minute left. Mercy's defense withstood a Collins three-point attempt and Smith Jr. went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 77-70 with 15 seconds on the clock. A Turner layup made it 77-72 with nine seconds left and Taylor Jr. finished off the win by going 2-of-2 from the line to give Mercy the 79-72 win.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and gave the Mavericks their first sweep over Bridgeport since the 2004-05 season.
Smith Jr. had a game-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting and Taylor Jr. had 13 points. Lapierre had a career-high 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Wilson had eight points. Dewaal had six points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Lee had six points.
Following the second win over Bridgeport, Mercy would go on to defeat D'Youville on February 17th and would earn a Senior Night win over Molloy on February 22nd. The Mavericks finished the season with a 6-20 record, matching their win total from last year and Dewaal was named Third Team All-ECC. Watts had the interim tag removed on March 16th and he looks to get Mercy back to the ECC Tournament in 2023-24 with a strong recruiting class entering campus this fall.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2022-23 Season
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next four weeks, the Mercy College Athletic Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Monday, July 10th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Monday, July 31st.
No. 1 – July 31st
No. 2 – July 28th
No. 3 – July 26th
No. 4 – July 24th
No. 5 – July 21st
No. 6 – July 19th
No. 7 – July 17th
No. 8 – July 14th
No. 9 - July 12th
No. 10 – July 10th
