DETROIT (12/9/2016) -- Just one game remains before finals week as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team returns to the state of Ohio to meet the Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday, Dec. 10.
Tip-off is slated for Noon at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Fans can catch all the action on ESPN3 or on the radio dial on 910 AM Superstation with
Cliff Russell calling all the action. Live stats will also be provided.
The Titans are coming off a couple of hard-luck losses where they have had the lead in the second half at both Murray State and Toledo.
Detroit Mercy still has four players averaging double digits in scoring led by sophomore
Josh McFolley's 13.3 points per game. Junior
Jaleel Hogan is tallying 12.7 points, senior
Chris Jenkins 11.7 and freshman
Corey Allen 10.9.
The travel-friendly Titans will finally have a chance to settle in at home as Detroit Mercy will finish the month of December with four-straight at Calihan Hall. The Titans will begin the homestand with Western Kentucky next Saturday, Dec. 17, with tip-off at 2 p.m.
Tickets to all home games start at just $10, $6 for children and seniors. To purchase tickets online, visit
detroittitans.com/tix. To purchase over the phone or for more information on game and season tickets, contact Director of Ticket Operations & Sales
Justin Hairston at 313-993-1700 ext. 7301 or at
hairstjj1@udmercy.edu.
ALL-TIME VS. BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green saw a four-game winning streak come to an end last year as the Titans won at home, 95-80, to move the all-time series to 24-17.
The Titans are just 7-12 on the road in the series with six-straight losses at BGSU.
In fact, the last time Detroit Mercy won at Bowling Green was on Nov. 24, 1998, when Titan head coach Bacari Alexander and assistant coach Jermaine Jackson suited up for the red, white and blue.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
It has been a season of streaks so far for Bowling Green as it began the year with four-straight losses only to then win three in a row. BGSU has now dropped its last two as the Falcons enter the game at 3-6, but four of those setbacks are by eight points or less.
The Falcons have played one common opponent defeating Murray State, 78-77, at home. They have also played two Horizon League foes falling at Oakland, 78-70, and at home to Green Bay, 77-61.
Zack Denny leads the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds. Wes Alcegaire is averaging 12.2 points, while Demajeo Wiggins is tallying 9.6 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds.
BGSU is averaging 72.0 points and giving up 72.56.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
The eleven (11) non-conference foes on the Titan men's basketball schedule posted a 197-161 (.550) last season with four teams making the postseason in East Tennessee State (Vegas 16), Florida State (NIT), New Hampshire (CIT) and Fort Wayne (NIT).
So far, the non-conference foes the Titans have faced on the road are a combined 37-17 (68.5%), including 25-3 (89.2%) at home.
In the national polls, Florida State and Fort Wayne are currently receiving votes in the AP and coaches poll. Fort Wayne is ranked No. 6 in the mid-major poll, while ETSU is at No. 9 and Eastern Michigan is receiving votes.
CONGRATS YOUNG ALLEN
Rookie
Corey Allen is starting to blossom into one of the top young scorers in the Horizon League and the conference recognized him as its HL Freshman of the Week on Monday, Dec. 5.
Allen led the Titans in scoring in last week's pair of games tallying 18.0 points on 60.0-percent shooting (12-of-20), including 61.5-percent (8-of-13) from three. He started the week off by recording a season-high 20 points against Eastern Michigan, going 7-of-11 from the field with four triples.
He then knocked down another four 3-pointers en route to 16 points, while tying his season high with five rebounds and two assists at Murray State.
UNSTOPPABLE
Junior
Jaleel Hogan has once again been an offensive force down low for the Titans ranking sixth in the Horizon League in field-goal percentage at 57.3 percent (47-of-82).
He is currently second in school history in career field-goal percentage at 58.2 percent trailing only Eli Holman '12 (60.5%).
JALETHAL
Junior
Jaleel Hogan saw his streak of six-straight games in double figures come to an end at Toledo, where he registered eight points and six rebounds.
He has now been in double figures in seven of the nine Titan games with his latest a 16-point, seven-rebound performance at Murray State.
His other double-digit scoring efforts have included: 11 points against Eastern Michigan, a season-best 19 points against Manhattan, where he tied his career-best with eight field goals, 18 points in just 15 minutes at New Hampshire, 16 points at Illinois and 12 against Florida State and Adrian.
Hogan has also just missed a double-double in the two of the last four games corralling back-to-back nine-rebound outings against the Jaspers and Eagles.
He is currently second on the team and 16th in the HL in scoring at 12.7 ppg.
HIGH SCORING MCFOLLEY
Sophomore
Josh McFolley is currently leading the team and 13th in the Horizon League in scoring at 13.3 points per game.
He has been in double figures six times already, including the last two games with 14 at Toledo and a team-high 17 at Murray State.
McFolley also owns the Titan best of 25 points on the season at ETSU, 16 at Illinois, 13 at New Hampshire and 18 versus Manhattan.
He is currently tied for sixth in three-point field goals made (2.2), tied for 15th in the HL in three-point field goal percentage (38.5%) and 14th in free throw percentage (77.4%).
NOT ON MY WATCH
Junior
Jaleel Hogan posted a career-best three blocks against Eastern Michigan and has six blocks in the last four games.
He is currently seventh in the Horizon League with 1.0 blocks per game.
YOU LITTLE THIEF
Sophomore
Josh McFolley tied his career high with four steals at Toledo his last time out.
He previously had four steals against Cleveland State last season.
He is now tied for sixth in the Horizon League with 1.3 steals per game.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS
The Titans have shown some improvements on defense since the season has started.
After allowing teams to shoot over 50.0 percent in the first five games, the Titans have held their last four teams to under that mark, including a season-low 40.4 percent at Toledo.
In fact against the Rockets, Detroit Mercy limited the Rockets to just 30.4 percent in the first half, including 1-of-8 from three.
Also, after being outworked on the boards in seven-straight games - including three by double digits - the Titans won the glass at Toledo, 43-37, with the 43 boards representing the most since the 44 they corralled in the season opener against Adrian.
ALLEN COMING ALONG
Freshman
Corey Allen has notched double figures in scoring four times this season, including in three-straight games. He sat out the last game at Toledo with an undisclosed injury.
He is coming off a 16-point game at Murray State, where he was 5-of-9 from the field with four 3-pointers and tied his season high with five rebounds and two assists.
He started the streak with 10 points against Manhattan and then netted a season-high 20 points against Eastern Michigan, where he was 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep.
In his last three games, he is averaging 15.3 points on 15-of-30 shooting (50.0%) and 10-of-17 (58.8%) from three.
In his first five games, Allen averaged 8.2 points on 36.6 percent shooting (15-of-41) and 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from long range.
He is currently fourth on the team in scoring at 10.9 points, 26th in the Horizon League and third most among HL freshmen.
He also leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (47.1%) as well as tied for 11th with 2.0 three-point field goals per game.
DRE DAY
Junior
DeShawndre Black has had at least three assists in seven of the first nine games, including a season-best seven assists against Manhattan and five assists at Murray State.
He is currently eighth in the Horizon League with 3.2 assists per game.
Black also has a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio on the season (29 assists, 10 turnovers) - tied for second in the HL and ranking 56th in the nation.
He has also picked up his offense scoring a season-high 14 points at New Hampshire.
CJ DOES IT ALL
Senior
Chris Jenkins is off to a slow start from behind the arc, but he currently ranks eighth in school history in three-point field goal percentage at 40.2 percent (80-of-199).
Jenkins has scored in double figures in six games on the season and is coming off his first double-double of the year, and fifth in his career, with 15 points and a career-best 14 rebounds at Toledo.
On the season, he netted his season-high of 18 at Florida State.
He has also just missed recording a couple of other double-doubles with 13 points and nine boards at Illinois and nine points with eight rebounds against Eastern Michigan.
Jenkins has handed out an assist in seven games with a season-high five at ETSU.
He is third on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg.) - 21st in the HL - while topping the squad on the boards (6.9 rpg.) - tied for fifth in the HL.
CAREER NIGHT FOR MCFOLLEY
Sophomore
Josh McFolley tallied a career-high 25 points at ETSU going 8-of-17 from the field and 7-of-9 from behind the arc.
It was his second career 20-point game and his fifth career contest where he knocked down at least four triples.
The seven triples are currently tied for the most by a player in the HL this season, and the most by a Titan since Jon Goode sank eight at UIC on Jan. 19, 2008.
JUST PERFECT
Sophomore
Gerald Blackshear Jr. had a perfect day against Adrian by tying his career high with 12 points going 5-for-5 from the field.
Blackshear Jr. is coming off a couple of very active games with 10 points, five boards and a steal at Toledo and eight points, five rebounds and an assist at Murray State.
He had a solid game recording 10 points (4-6 FG) and six boards against Manhattan, and that was after a nine-point and season-high seven-rebound performance at New Hampshire, where he was 4-of-5 from the field.
On the year, he is 25-of-38 (65.8%) from the field, but he does not have enough field goals to qualify for the league lead.
Last season, he averaged 4.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game, while shooting a 55.2 percent from the field.
DOUBLE J
Senior
Jarod Williams came up with his first career double-double in the season-opening win over Adrian as he ended the contest with 10 points and a career-best 10 boards.
He came back to record 16 points - just two shy of his career high - at ETSU.
In the last three games, he is averaging 5.7 rebounds grabbing six rebounds against Eastern Michigan, nine points with five rebounds at Murray State and 13 points with six caroms at Toledo.
On the year, he is shooting 50.0 percent in averaging 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds.
SENIOR STATUS
Four seniors are on the Titan roster in
Matthew Grant,
Chris Jenkins, Pat Robinson Jr., and
Jarod Williams. The quartet has played in 274 career games with 142 starts.
NEW FACES
Detroit Mercy has eight newcomers, the most since the 2008-09 season when then first-year head coach Ray McCallum had 10.
The eight newcomers are among the most in the nation behind only Southeast Missouri (11), Eastern Kentucky (10), Tulsa (10), East Carolina (9), Jacksonville State (9), Memphis (9), SIUE (9), UT Martin (9) and tied with Indiana, Tulane and UCF.
The eight newcomers include one Division I transfer in
Kameron Chatman (Michigan), two junior college transfers in
DeShawndre Black (Schoolcraft College) and
Isaiah Jones (Mt. San Jacinto College) and five true freshmen in
Corey Allen (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti),
Malik Eichler (Berlin, Germany/MacDuffie Prep (MA),
Cole Long (Orangeville, Ont./Athletic Institute Basketball Academy),
Jacob Joubert (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) and
Ed Carter III (Detroit, Mich./Edison).
2017 LITTLE CAESARS MOTOR CITY MADNESS UPDATE
The 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championship will run concurrently from March 3-7, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
The championship games will be held on Tuesday, March 7, for the Horizon League title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Men's and Women's Tournaments.
2017 marks the final year the Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championships will be contested at Joe Louis Arena before moving to the state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena, currently under construction in downtown Detroit.
Over 20,900 fans attended the four-day tournament last year, the first neutral-site HL men's basketball championship since 2003.
All tickets for the Little Caesars Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championship will go on sale on Thursday, December 29. Fans can purchase tickets at
Ticketmaster.com, Joe Louis Arena Box Office, Campus Box Offices, or the Joe Louis Arena Tickets Sales and Service Office at 313-471-7575.
