GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (12/18/12) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will stay on the road as the Titans visit Alcorn State on Wednesday, Dec. 19 in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic. The game is scheduled to begin a 3:00 p.m. ET at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Titans will also visit Temple (Dec. 28) before hosting Canisius (Dec. 30) as part of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic.

CHEVROLET GOTHAM CLASSIC
Detroit will join Syracuse and Temple, two of the winningest programs in college basketball history, in the inaugural Chevrolet Gotham Classic. Along with the Titans, Orange, and Owls, Alcorn State and Canisius will also be part of the field.

The format of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic features 10 games with all five teams playing each other once. The Titans will open play at Syracuse before traveling to Mississippi to face Alcorn State on Wednesday, December 19. After the holiday break, Detroit will head to Temple to play the Owls on Friday, December 28, before concluding the Classic at home against Canisius on Sunday, December 30.

The Chevrolet Gotham Classic is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally recognized events, such as the 2K Sports Classic, the Legends Classic, the CBI presented by Zebra Pen, and the All-American Championship. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through men's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets. The Game Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

LAST TIME OUT
Detroit (6-5) used a late surge to cut a one-time 22-point deficit down to just three, but could not complete the comeback effort dropping a 72-68 decision at No. 3/3 Syracuse on Monday night on a nationally televised game on ESPN2. The Titans outscored the Orange 47-32 in the second half at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse (10-0) held a 61-39 lead with 9:09 remaining before the Titans put together a 25-6 run to cut the Orange lead to 67-64 with 29 seconds left. Michael Carter-Williams then made a pair of free throws to extend the Syracuse lead to 69-64, before Jason Calliste made a jumper to make it a three point game again, 69-66, with 17 seconds remaining. Two more free throws from Carter-Williams extended the lead to five, before a Doug Anderson dunk made the score 71-68 with two seconds left. Carter-Williams then missed the first of two free throws before making the second to claim win number 900 for Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.

Anderson and Juwan Howard, Jr. led the way with 18 points apiece, which included some emphatic highlight dunks from Anderson, while Nick Minnerath added 13. Ray McCallum scored nine points with four assists and three steals while Calliste pitched in seven points with a team-high seven assists.

Syracuse won the battle on the boards, 34-28, but Detroit forced 18 Orange turnovers, while distributing 19 assists. Syracuse shot 46.8 percent overall, while the Titans finished shooting 46.7 percent, including 58.1 percent in the second half.

SERIES WITH ALCORN STATE
This will be the second meeting between Detroit and Alcorn State, with the Titans owning a 1-0 lead. Detroit won the only other meeting, 79-59, during the 2009-10 season in Albany, N.Y. as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
Alcorn State (2-8) fell to Temple, 63-46, Monday night in its first game of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Three Braves scored in double figures led by Anthony Nieves with 16 points, while Josh Nicholas pitched in 12 and Michael Starks added 10.

Leantwan Luckett leads the Braves in scoring averaging with 13.8 points per game, Anthony Evans, who leads the team in steals (2.2 spg), is averaging 11.7 ppg and Nieves 10.8 ppg.

TITANS LOVE CALIHAN
Detroit is 6-0 this year at home and has won 14 straight games at Calihan Hall dating back to last season. The 14 game home winning streak is tied for the 10th longest in the nation. The Titans have averaged 77.8 points per game over that stretch, while only allowing opponents to score 65.2 points on Dick Vitale Court. Detroit's last loss at home came on Jan. 6, 2012 against Valparaiso, 73-71.

DETROIT LOVES THE 80's
This season the Titans are a perfect 5-0 when scoring 80 or more points and have extended their winning streak to 19 games when doing so. Last year Detroit finished undefeated (9-0) when reaching the 80-point mark. The last time the Titans lost a game when scoring 80 points or more came at Milwaukee during the 2010-11 season, when the Panthers won in overtime 84-81.

McCALLUM NAMED TO THE WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50
Detroit junior guard Ray McCallum was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, according to a release. The list recognizes the top-returning players in all of college basketball.

McCallum, the Horizon League preseason Player of the Year and first team selection for the second-straight season, was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year after he helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. McCallum led the team in scoring (15.4 ppg), assists (4.0 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) for the second-straight season.

TITANS PICKED SECOND
The UDM men's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Horizon League preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members. The reigning HL Tournament Champions totaled 332 points – including four first-place votes – trailing only Valparaiso's 382 points and 40 first-place selections. Green Bay was picked to finish third with 283 points, while Youngstown State was fourth with 243 and Cleveland State fifth tallying 230. Rounding out the poll was Milwaukee (178), Loyola (105), UIC (96) and Wright State (86).

McCALLUM NAMED HL PRESEASON POY
Junior guard Ray McCallum was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight season, following a super sophomore year.

McCallum, the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year, helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. He was named to the Lou Henson All-America team as well as the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) All-District First Team and the National All-Jesuit Team after a superb season that saw him become the 37th Titan to surpass 1,000 career points and the first to do it as a sophomore.

UP NEXT
Detroit will stay on the road as the Titans visit Temple on Friday, Dec. 28 in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic. The game is scheduled to begin a 3:00 p.m. at the Liacouras Center. The Titans will conclude the Chevrolet Gotham Classic by hosting Canisius on Sunday, Dec. 30.