DETROIT (1/10/2018) -- Sophomore
Corey Allen tallied a game-high 25 points and the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team shot over 70.0 percent in the second half as the Titans defeated Cleveland State, 85-84, on Wednesday night.
Allen – who scored 22 of his points in the second half - was 9-of-14 from the field with four 3-pointers, while registering eight rebounds and a career-tying five assists. Graduate senior
Roschon Prince posted a season-best 19 points and eight rebounds and junior
Josh McFolley netted 13 points with two steals.
The Titans were down 84-83 with less than four seconds left when they called a timeout. They then had to inbound the ball and go the full length of the court and Allen did just that, cutting through the Cleveland State (4-13, 1-3 HL) defense for the game-winning layup as the clock expired.
Detroit Mercy (5-13, 1-4 HL) shot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) and was 13-of-29 from behind the arc in the game, but in the second half, the Titans were red-hot shooting 70.4 percent (19-of-27), including 7-of-13 from distance.
Junior
Gerald Blackshear Jr. tied his season high with seven rebounds. Senior
DeShawndre Black had eight points, two assists and two steals and freshman
Jack Ballantyne totaled eight points and a season-high four assists.
The Titans will return to action on Friday, Jan. 12, when the red, white and blue host Youngstown State at 7 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased
online, over the phone (313-993-1700 ext. 7301) or in person at Calihan Hall. For more information on tickets, contact Director of Ticket Operations & Sales
Justin Hairston at 313-993-1700 ext. 7301 or at hairstjj1@udmercy.edu.
First Half:
- The Titans trailed 10-4, but went on an 11-1 run to take a 15-11 lead at the 13:30 mark.
- Allen and freshman Jermaine Jackson Jr. started that spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers, and after a CSU free throw, Prince went inside for two and Ballantyne buried his first triple of the game.
- Cleveland State came back to take the lead and led by as many as seven points in the period.
- Detroit Mercy was able to pull within two on a couple of occasions, the first as Ballantyne hit a jumper to make it 31-29 with just over a minute left and then Black found Jackson Jr. open in the corner and his triple had the Titans down just 34-32 with 10 seconds remaining.
- Ballantyne led the way with eight points in the first half and Blackshear Jr. grabbed six rebounds at that point.
Second Half:
- The Titans trailed by as many as 11 points, 46-35, early in the stanza before they started chipping away
- A layup by Prince followed by a three from Black and a fast-break bucket from Allen tied the game at 48-48 with 12:48 left.
- The game was tied a few more times after that, but Cleveland State never relinquished the lead and ran its lead back to as many as five, 73-68, with 5:25 left.
- That is when the Titans took their first lead on back-to-back triples from McFolley and Allen to jump in front, 74-73.
- Detroit Mercy upped that to three, 76-73, with 3:34 remaining off two free throws from Allen, but the Vikings hit a three to knot it up.
- Allen responded with a trey of his own and then off a CSU turnover, he hit a jumper and the Titans were up by five, 81-76, with just one-minute showing.
- Detroit Mercy continued to stay ahead, but the Vikings nailed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds on the clock to take an 84-83 advantage.
- That is when the Titans called a timeout to set up a game-winning play as the ball ended up in Allen's hands near midcourt and he broke down the defense by driving all the way to the rim for the layup just as the horn sounded.
- Allen had 22 points in the second half as he was 8-of-9 from the field, 3-of-4 from three and 3-of-4 at the free throw line, while Prince finished with 15 second-half points.
Game Notes:
- Detroit Mercy leads the overall series, 41-23, and is 26-4 all-time in Calihan Hall
- Redshirt junior Kameron Chatman missed his second-straight game with an injury, while senior Jaleel Hogan and junior Tariiq Jones were not available for the game and the University will have no further comment on the matter due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
- It was the third time this season the Titans shot over 50.0 percent from the field and first against a Division I opponent.
- It was the third game this season that came down to the final seconds as Chatman beat Saint Louis with one second on the clock and the Titans fell to NKU as they got a game-winning attempt off at the buzzer
- Detroit Mercy also came back to force overtime in the win over Houston Baptist as Jackson Jr. nailed a 3-pointer at the horn
- The 30 Titan field goals were the most since knocking in 32 against Toledo
- The 13, 3-pointers were the second most on the second behind the 17 versus Siena Heights
- Detroit Mercy had just 13 made triples in the last three games
- McFolley tied Chase Simon '12 for 10th in school history with 138 career 3-pointers
- It was the most points by Prince since he had 21 at Cal-State Fullerton last year as a member of Long Beach State
- Blackshear Jr. also had seven rebounds against Michigan-Dearborn
- It was Allen's 13th career 20-point game
- Allen tied his career high for the fourth time with five assists
