BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (12/22/2015) -- The Titans used a late 11-0 run to take a second-half lead, but just came up a bit short as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell, 79-74, at Western Kentucky on Tuesday night.

Freshman Josh McFolley led four Titans in double figures with 15 points hitting four 3-pointers in the process. Junior Chris Jenkins added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds and senior Anton Wilson and sophomore Paris Bass tallied 13 apiece. 

It was a see-saw game from the start, one that featured seven ties and 10 lead changes with neither team ever taking a double-digit advantage. 

Detroit (6-4) was down by nine, 67-58, with seven minutes left when the Titans pieced together an 11-0 run to jump in front, 69-67, with 2:29 remaining. Bass got it started with a layup, and then Jenkins – who hit all five of his free throws in the game – went to the charity stripe for two. McFolley followed with a 3-pointer and after a Hogan free throw, Wilson knocked in another trey for the lead. 

UDM was then down six, 75-69, when Jenkins connected on two free throws and McFolley nailed a 3-pointer to pull within one, 75-74, with 41 seconds left. Two WKU free throws made it a three-point game, 77-74, with 17 seconds remaining, and the Titans had one final chance to tie it, but just could not get the ball to go in.

Bass added a team-high five assists, tying his career high, and McFolley had a season-best four helpers. Sophomore Jaleel Hogan finished with nine points, five rebounds, a block and a steal and freshman Gerald Blackshear tallied four points and four caroms. 

It was back and forth early on, but a steal and layup by senior Carlton Brundidge and a triple by McFolley off a strong rebound by Jenkins gave the Titans a 12-8 lead about six minutes into the game. 

Western Kentucky would jump ahead by as many as three, 19-16, but a 10-3 spurt by the Titans put the red, white and blue ahead, 26-22, at the eight-minute mark. Bass and Wilson had back-to-back 3-pointers, and Jenkins ended the run with an old-fashioned three-point play as he blew past his defender for a layup and was fouled, converting the free throw. 

The lead was down to two, 30-28, with 4:34 left when Brundidge and Jenkins tallied buckets, giving the Titans a 34-28 lead.  Three minutes later, Hogan tipped one in and an acrobatic layup by junior Matthew Grant gave the Titans their biggest lead of the opening half, 38-30, before going into the break up three, 38-35.

Detroit shot 47.1 percent (16-of-34) in the first 20 minutes and was 4-of-10 from long range, while WKU was at 41.7 percent (10-of-24). The Hilltoppers did most of their damage at the free-throw line going 14-of-19 compared to UDM's 2-of-4 mark, but Detroit held the edge in second chance points (11-6). 

Detroit scored the first basket in the second half for a five-point advantage, 40-35, but the Hilltoppers answered with seven straight points.  A Bass trifecta knotted it at 43-all and the game would also be tied at 46-46 and 58-58 as McFolley and Jenkins netted a pair of triples, respectively, but the Titans never got the lead back until that 11-0 charge. 

UDM will now have a few days off for Christmas break before playing its last non-conference game at Eastern Michigan on Monday, Dec. 28. That contest is set for 7:00 p.m., at the Convocation Center. 

Game Notes:
This was just the third career meeting between the two schools with Detroit now trailing, 2-1… The Titans first ever NCAA Tournament game was against Western Kentucky in 1962, played in Lexington, Ky….  Detroit is now 15-5 all-time against current members of Conference USA… The Titans came into the game 10th in the NCAA in scoring at 86.3 points per game… UDM made double-digit 3-pointers for the fourth-straight game and the seventh time this year... Wilson is now all alone for seventh in Titan history with 149 career 3-pointers, just eight away from sixth place and Michael Jackson '95… Jenkins was in double figures for the seventh time in the last eight games… Jenkins also has seven or more rebounds in four-straight games and five times on the year… Bass had five assists at Northeastern last year…