DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 3, 2024) – Powered by a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds from senior Jayden Dewaal (Toronto, Canada/Trinidad State Junior College) and a double-double from junior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport), the Mercy University men's basketball team earned an 81-65 win over Cheyney University in their first game of 2024 on Wednesday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (1-10) earn their first win of the season and defeat the Wolves (1-11) for the second straight year.
Mercy was led by Dewaal who went 11-of-19 from the floor with two blocks. Chiles had a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with a game-high 10 assists. The junior also added four rebounds and three steals. Senior Alex May (Englewood, N.J./St. Francis College (Brooklyn) recorded 13 points and five rebounds and sophomore Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) netted 12 points, four steals and seven rebounds. Graduate student Garrett Kirkland (Springdale, Md./Bishop McNamara) contributed eight points and four rebounds and freshman Zein Wahdan (Alexandria, Egypt/Springfield Commonwealth Academy) had a career-high seven points with a career-high-tying four rebounds.
Cheyney was led by Chimeziri Okeoma who had a team-high 19 points.
The Wolves held their lone lead of the game at 2-0 following a basket from Jaylen Hawkins. Mercy stormed back on a 13-0 run, capped off by a May three, to take a 13-2 lead with 17 minutes left in the first half. A Jahmal Keyes three later cut the Mavericks lead to eight, 15-7, but back-to-back layups from Chiles and Dewaal made it 19-7 at the 14:42 mark.
Cheyney later cut the deficit to eight again, 24-16, following a Hawkins layup. Mercy rallied with a 7-0 spurt to increase the lead to 15, 31-16, after a pair of Wahdan free throws with 8:26 left in the half. The Wolves ensued with an 18-9 run to trim the Mavericks lead to six, 40-34, with 1:59 on the clock. A basket from Conroy and two Chiles free throws gave Mercy a 44-34 lead at halftime.
A Hawkins jumper to open the second half cut the Mavericks lead to eight, 44-36. Mercy quickly answered with a 12-0 run, finished off by a Dewaal layup, to increase the lead to 20, 56-36, with 16:26 remaining. The Wolves went on an 8-2 run to make it 58-44 at the 14:28 mark, but five points from Conroy and two from Chiles gave the Mavericks a 21-point advantage, 65-44, with 12:54 left.
Mercy later built the lead to a game-high 24 points, 72-48, following a Chiles layup with 8:06 left. Cheyney cut the Mavericks lead to 16, 76-60, at the 3:46 mark, but a Chiles layup and Kirkland three put the lead back to 21, 81-60, with 2:04 remaining. Mercy led by double digits the rest of the way to secure the 81-65 win.
Mercy shot 43.8 percent (32-of-73) from the floor, 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from downtown and 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the foul line. Cheyney shot 38.0 percent (27-of-71) from the field, 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 48-38 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, January 9th when they host Bloomfield at 7 p.m.
