DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 9, 2024) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 85-83 decision to Franklin Pierce University on Monday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (1-6) fail to build off their win on Friday, while the Ravens (1-9) earn their first win of the season.
Mercy was led by junior TJ Holloway (Stratford, Conn./Central Connecticut State University) who had a team-high and career-high-tying 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting with five rebounds. Freshman Ethan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) added 21 points with a game-high-tying seven rebounds and freshman Nathan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) recorded 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Sophomore Shedrach Makanjuola (Boston, Mass./Quincy College) contributed 10 points and a game-high-tying seven rebounds and senior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) had eight points and a game-high nine assists. Freshman James Connolly (Canton, Ga./The Winchendon School) scored a career-high five points and sophomore Derek Long (Milford, Conn./Deerfield Academy) produced four points.
Franklin Pierce was led by Donte Pope who had a game-high 36 points.
The Ravens held a 7-2 lead at the 17:17 mark of the first half before Mercy went on an 11-4 run to take a 13-11 lead after an Ethan Robertson layup with 13:56 on the clock. Franklin Pierce responded with a 15-4 run to take a 26-17 lead with 10:09 left in the half.
A Connolly three got the Mavericks to within four, 26-22. The Ravens followed with a 9-3 run to take their largest lead of the game, 35-25, with 5:52 remaining in the half. A Makanjuola layup capped a 10-2 run and got Mercy to within two, 37-35. Franklin Pierce went on a 9-2 spurt to increase the lead back to nine, 46-37, and headed into halftime with a 46-39 lead after two Ethan Robertson free throws.
Mercy opened the second half on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 46-46 after two Holloway free throws with 17:35 left. Franklin Pierce scored the next five points to retake the lead at 51-46 before the Mavericks went on a 12-6 run, finished off by an Ethan Robertson three, to give Mercy a 58-57 lead with 12:57 on the clock.
Franklin Pierce went on a 10-0 run to retake the lead at 67-58 with 9:27 remaining. A Saeer Miller layup with 7:37 left made it 69-60 in favor of the visitors. Mercy continued to battle and ensued with a 12-2 run to take a 72-71 lead with 4:26 left after an Ethan Robertson three. The Ravens came back on a 10-1 run to take an 81-73 lead with 1:29 remaining. Mercy scored the next five points to make it 81-78 after an Ethan Robertson three-point play with 1:13 on the clock. Pope and Trevon Thomas both went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 83-78 with 32 seconds left. Nathan Robertson made it 83-80 following a layup with 27 seconds on the clock. Thomas Prendergast went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 84-80. Nathan Robertson connected on a layup on the other end to make it 84-82 with 18 seconds remaining. Ja'Keese Kemp missed both free throws for the Ravens giving Mercy a chance to tie or take the lead. Holloway missed a go-ahead three for the Mavericks and Thomas got the rebound and was fouled by Mercy. Thomas went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 85-82 with four seconds left. Following a Mercy timeout, Nathan Robertson was fouled in the backcourt with two seconds left and made the first free throw to make it 85-83. Robertson then intentionally missed the following free throw with Ethan Robertson getting the rebound, but Robertson was unable to get a shot off and the Ravens earned the 85-83 win.
Mercy shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the floor, 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from downtown and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the foul line. Franklin Pierce shot 55.0 percent (33-of-60) from the field, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from beyond the arc and 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 36-24 edge on the glass. Franklin Pierce used 25 Mercy turnovers to hold a 30-9 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, December 11th when they host Holy Family at 7 p.m.
