DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 7, 2025) – Despite freshmen Nathan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) and Ethan Robertson (Boston, Mass./The Winchendon School) and sophomore Shedrach Makanjuola (Boston, Mass./Quincy College) scoring in double figures, the Mercy University men's basketball team dropped an 82-77 decision to ECC foe D'Youville University on Friday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.

The Mavericks (5-14, 4-6 ECC) have dropped four games in a row and fall to the Saints (6-14, 4-7 ECC) for the fourth straight time at home.

Mercy was led by Nathan Robertson who had a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Ethan Robertson added 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with a team-high six rebounds and Makanjuola had 11 points and a game-high four blocks. Junior TJ Holloway (Stratford, Conn./Central Connecticut State University) scored eight points and sophomore Derek Long (Milford, Conn./Deerfield Academy) contributed eight points and three steals. Senior Taj Chiles (Harlem, N.Y./University of Bridgeport) finished with seven points and a game-high-tying seven assists.

D'Youville was led by Elisha Warren who had a team-high 21 points.

The Saints built an 11-7 lead with 14:14 left in the first half before Mercy went on a 9-0 run to take a 16-11 lead after a Nathan Robertson layup at the 12:38 mark. D'Youville scored the next eight points to retake the lead at 19-16.

A Warren layup with 1:05 left in the half later gave the Saints a 32-27 lead before a Nathan Robertson layup cut the D'Youville lead to three, 32-29. A late Warren three gave the Saints a 35-29 lead at halftime.

Mercy scored the first six points of the second half to tie the score at 35-35 after a Makanjuola layup. A Makanjuola jumper with 15:59 left gave Mercy a 40-39 lead and a Chiles three-point play with 14:40 remaining put the Mavericks up three, 44-41.

The Saints stormed back on a 13-2 run to take a 54-46 lead with 10:44 left. An Ethan Robertson jumper at the 8:40 mark made it 58-53 before the guests went on an 8-1 run to increase their lead to 12, 66-54, with 7:04 remaining.

Mercy battled back with a 14-7 run, capped off by a Holloway three, to cut the D'Youville lead to five, 73-68, with 3:44 left. Two Nathan Robertson free throws with 1:17 left made it 78-74 before two Noah Hutchins free throws gave the Saints an 80-74 lead with 50 seconds left. Makanjuola connected on a layup to make it 80-76 before Dawson Matsell went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Saints an 81-76 lead with 27 seconds left. Holloway went 1-of-2 from the line with 14 seconds left to make it 81-77 before Renard Fontes-Jules went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Saints an 82-77 lead they would not relinquish.

Mercy shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the floor, 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from downtown and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the foul line. D'Youville shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the field, 33.3 percent (11-of-33) from beyond the arc and 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the charity stripe. D'Youville held a 39-24 edge on the glass and a 19-2 edge in second chance points.

Head Coach Chris Watts and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, February 9th when they host No. 2/3 Daemen at 2 p.m.