DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 11, 2024) – Powered by three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University men's basketball team earned an 82-79 win over Holy Family University on Wednesday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (2-6) have won two of their last three games and match their win total from last year. The Tigers (5-5) have dropped four games in a row.
Mercy was led by freshman Nathan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) who had a team-high-tying 21 points with a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Ethan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) added 21 points and four assists and junior TJ Holloway (Stratford, Conn./Central Connecticut State University) contributed 17 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Shedrach Makanjuola (Boston, Mass./Quincy College) recorded nine points and five rebounds and senior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) had six points and a game-high 10 assists. Sophomore Derek Long (Milford, Conn./Deerfield Academy) scored five points and freshman James Connolly (Canton, Ga./The Winchendon School) finished with three points.
Holy Family was led by CJ Mundell who scored a game-high 34 points.
Mercy jumped out to a 14-2 lead after an Ethan Robertson three with 15:18 left in the first half. A Nathan Robertson layup at the 12:30 mark gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 20-5. Holy Family came back on a 21-4 run to take a 26-24 lead with 5:06 remaining in the opening half.
The Mavericks responded with a 12-4 run to take the lead back at 36-30 after three Holloway free throws with 2:51 left in the half. Holy Family ended the half on a 6-2 spurt to cut Mercy's lead to two, 38-36, at halftime.
Holy Family opened the second half by tying the score at 40-40 with 18:12 remaining. Mercy scored the next eight points to take a 48-40 lead after a Makanjuola layup at the 16:08 mark. A Long three with 11:23 on the clock gave Mercy a seven-point lead, 58-51. The Tigers later cut Mercy's lead to four, 60-56, before the Mavericks went on a 13-5 run to take a 73-61 lead after a Connolly three with 6:48 remaining.
The Tigers followed with a 7-0 run to make it 73-68 before Holloway drained a three to make it 76-68 with 3:27 left. A Makanjuola dunk later made it 80-73 before Holy Family recorded four straight points to make it 80-77 with 40 seconds left. Two Mundell free throws made it 80-79 before Nathan Robertson went 2-of-2 from the line to give Mercy an 82-79 lead with a couple of seconds left. A last second three attempt by Vernon Johnson would not fall and the Mavericks earned the 82-79 win.
Mercy shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) from the floor, 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from downtown and 84.2 percent (16-of-19) from the foul line. Holy Family shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field, 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from beyond the arc and 75.9 percent (22-of-29) from the charity stripe. Holy Family held a 37-36 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, December 13th when they play at D'Youville at 7:30 p.m.
