CLEVELAND, Ohio (12/30/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team once again got out to a big lead on the road and closed out the contest with some smooth, free throw shooting as the Titans sank the Cleveland State Vikings, 73-61, on Sunday night.

Detroit Mercy moved to 5-9 overall and 2-0 in the Horizon League for the first time since 2015-16. The Titans won their first two conference games on the road for the first time since 1998-99. 

Freshman Antoine Davis led four Titan in double figures with 17 points and a game-high six assists. 

Graduate senior Derrien King had 15 points and six boards and senior Josh McFolley tallied 15 points with five boards, three assists and three steals. Junior Harrison Curry posted 10 points and junior Lamar Hamrick added a game and career-high 11 boards off the bench with six points and three steals.

The defense held Cleveland State (5-10, 0-2 HL)  to 38.6 percent shooting and just 6-of-26 (23.1%) from the outside while forcing 13 turnovers and winning the battle of the boards, 40-39.

The Titans shot 38.5 percent with seven, 3-pointers and were 16-of-17 (94.1%) at the free throw line. Detroit Mercy also turned it over a season-low five times. 

The Titans started the game with a 13-3 run and led at the half, 34-28. Detroit Mercy raised its lead to as many as 18 in the second half and led by 17 with 6:45 left when CSU went on a run to cut it to six, but the red, white and blue closed out the victory going 8-of-8 at the line in the final 1:13. 

The Titans will now return home for five straight starting with defending Horizon League champion Wright State on Thursday, Jan. 3, in a 7 p.m. tip at Calihan Hall. Tickets start at just $10 and can be purchased at Detroittitans.com/tix.

First Half:

• King started the scoring with a three and later had a jumper for a 5-3 lead
• The Titan defense held CSU to 1-of-8 shooting with seven turnovers in the first seven minutes
• A tip-in off an offensive board by senior Gerald Blackshear Jr. made it 7-3 and then the Titans extended it to 13-3 with 11:56 left as Curry had back-to-back baskets and Davis got to the rim for a layup
• Harrison had another basket to make it 20-12 with 8:12 left
• Jumpers from McFolley and Davis had the Titans back up by double digits, 16-16, with 5:37 remaining
• The lead was 11 twice, the latest at 32-21 with 1:36 on the clock as junior Cole Long crashed the glass for a tip-in
• The Titans went into the break up 34-28 as the defense limited the Vikings to 37.5 percent shooting with nine turnovers and winning the boards, 20-18

Second Half:

• 3-pointers by King and McFolley had the Titans back up by 10 again, 40-30, just a minute into the half
• The Titans led by eight, 42-34, when they scored nine straight to open a 17-point advantage, 51-34, with 14:56 left, the last two buckets by strong stops on defense and layups from Mcfolley and Blackshear Jr. 
• A three by McFolley would give the Titans their largest lead of 18, 54-36, at the 13:54 mark
• Detroit Mercy would lead by 18 again at 59-41 and at 61-43 with 8:13 left
• CSU made one final run going on a 16-4 spurt to pull within six, 65-59, with 1:13 on the clock, but the Titans made 8-of-8 free throws down the stretch to earn the win

Game Notes:

• Detroit Mercy now leads the all-time match-up,  43-24, and is 13-18 all-time on the road in the series
• The 43 wins are tied for the third most against any opponent with Xavier also at 43 and trailing only Loyola Chicago (57) and Eastern Michigan (59)
• The last time the Titans started the Horizon League at 2-0 was in 2015-16, while the last time they started 2-0 with two road wins was in 1998-99 when they defeated Milwaukee (71-54) and Green Bay (43-37)
• Detroit Mercy came into the game leading the Horizon League and 31st in the nation averaging just 11.3 turnovers per game
• The last time the Titans shot at least 90% at the line was on Feb. 16, 2018, when they were 24-of-25 (96%) at Youngstown State
• Davis' season high in assists is seven at Eastern Michigan
• Hamrick's season high in rebounds was nine against Kent State and his 11 boards are the most for the Titans this year
• King has now scored in double figures in three-straight games and seven times this season
• King has now hit at least three triples in six games this year
• McFolley passed Ray McCallum '13 for fourth place in school history with 176 career steals
• McFolley now has 1,212 points, one shy of 25th place in school history

 

4 Titans in double figures led by Antoine Davis' 17 and the defense did the job all night long as Detroit Mercy starts off #HLMBB play with 2 road wins for the first time since 1998-99 in this 73-61 victory at Cleveland State #DetroitsCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/NyYwhDe5k1

— Detroit Mercy MBB (@DetroitMBB) December 31, 2018