STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Feb. 12, 2025) – Powered by the game-winning basket at the buzzer by sophomore Shedrach Makanjuola (Boston, Mass./Quincy College), the Mercy University men's basketball team earned a 79-77 win over ECC foe College of Staten Island on Wednesday night at The Tank.

The Mavericks (6-15, 5-7 ECC) snap a five-game losing streak and earn a split of the season series with the Dolphins (9-15, 5-7 ECC). Mercy now has their most wins in a season since the 2022-23 season and their most ECC wins since the 2021-22 season. The buzzer beater to win the game is the Mavericks third of the season.

Mercy was led by freshman Ethan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) who had a career-high 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Junior TJ Holloway (Stratford, Conn./Central Connecticut State University) added 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting overall and 5-of-6 shooting from downtown. Makanjuola recorded 11 points and a game-high-tying six rebounds and freshman Nathan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sophomore Derek Long (Milford, Conn./Deerfield Academy) had five points and senior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) finished with two points and a career-high 15 assists.

Staten Island was led by Messiah Mallory who had a team-high 22 points.

Staten Island scored the game's first six points and held a 15-6 lead with 13:10 left in the first half. Mercy scored the next eight points to make it 15-14 after a Holloway layup with 10:58 on the clock. The Dolphins increased the lead back to six, 20-14, at the 9:54 mark before the Mavericks went on a 13-5 run to take a 27-25 lead after a Holloway three with 4:26 on the clock.

Two Ethan Robertson free throws later made it 29-27 in favor of Mercy with 3:39 left in the half. Staten Island closed the half on a 10-3 run to take a 37-32 lead at halftime.

Staten Island increased their lead to nine, 48-39, with 15:30 remaining and later held a six-point lead, 54-48, with 12:25 left. A Holloway three at the 9:54 mark cut the Dolphins lead to one, 57-56, before Staten Island went on a 15-7 run to increase their lead back to nine, 72-63, with 4:41 left.

The Mavericks followed with a 14-4 run to take a 77-76 lead with 10 seconds left after an Ethan Robertson layup. Following a Mercy foul, Mallory went 1-of-2 from the line to tie the score at 77-77 with five seconds remaining. After a Maverick timeout, Makanjuola took a pass from Nathan Robertson at midcourt and drove to the basket, connecting on the game-winning driving layup as time expired to give Mercy the 79-77 win.

Mercy shot 53.3 percent (32-of-60) from the floor, 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from downtown and 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from the foul line. Staten Island shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field, 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from beyond the arc and 88.2 percent (15-of-17) from the charity stripe. Staten Island held a 28-22 edge on the glass.

Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 15th when they play at UDC at 3:15 p.m.