KALAMAZOO, Mich. (12/12/2020) -- Five Titans scored in double figures and the defense helped start a big run in the second half as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team picked up a road win with a 67-57 triumph at Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
Junior
Antoine Davis led the way with 14 points and also had two assists and two steals. Graduate senior
Bul Kuol had 12 points, five boards, two assists, two steals and a block, while junior
Willy Isiani had eight points and a career-best 12 rebounds.
Detroit Mercy (1-3) trailed by five, 42-37, with 15 minutes to go in the second half when the Titans went on a 19-5 run over the next 12 minutes to go up by 12, 59-47. The defense held Western Michigan (1-3) to just 2-of-16 from the field with five turnovers in that stretch.
WMU led by as many as eight in the first half, but the Titans kept chipping away and trailed at the break, 33-29. In the second half, the teams traded baskets in the first five minutes when the red, white and blue went on that run.
Graduate senior
Marquell Fraser netted 12 points with three rebounds and two assists. Senior
Matt Johnson netted 11 points with three rebounds and senior
Dwayne Rose Jr. had 10 points and three caroms.
The Titans shot 39.3% from the field with seven 3-pointers and held the Broncos to 35.9%, including just 5-of-27 (18.5%) from the outside, and 12 turnovers. Detroit Mercy was also 16-of-19 (84.2%) at the free-throw line with just eight turnovers.
Horizon League play will start next week as the Titans start the conference slate with four-straight home games, first by welcoming preseason favorite Wright State to Calihan Hall on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20. Both games will tip at 2 p.m.
First Half:
- The defenses dominated at the start as Detroit Mercy was 2-of-7 and WMU 3-of-9 as Fraser got inside for a layup and the foul and Kuol made a basket
- Two free throws by Johnson gave the Titans a 7-6 lead at the 15:49 mark
- Western Michigan went up 15-9, but the Titans trimmed that as Isiani nailed a 3-pointer to make it 17-13 with 10:59 left
- The Broncos jumped on top 21-13 when Johnson nailed back-to-back triples, the second off a steak by Kuol and it was 21-19 with 8:43 left
- Rose Jr. would make it a one-possession game again as he grabbed a long rebound and then attacked the rim for a bucket to make it 26-23 at the 4:19 mark
- Davis then started to heat up scoring the last six points in the half for the Titans and they trailed at the break, 33-29
Second Half:
- The Titans and Broncos traded baskets early on, but then Kuol got inside for a basket and off a steal and offensive rebound, Davis had a layup and the red, white and blue was down by just one, 38-37, with 16 minutes left
- WMU went up by five, 42-37, but a triple from Johnson followed by a trey from Rose Jr. gave the Titans their first lead since the first half, 43-42, at the 14:40 mark
- Western Michigan regained the lead at 44-43, but a layup by Rose Jr. and then two free throws by Fraser had the red, white and blue up 47-44
- Off some tough defense, the Titans extended their run to 6-0 as Davis got inside for a score and a 49-44 lead with 8:17 to go
- After a WMU basket, Detroit Mercy went on a 7-0 run to open a 56-47 advantage with 3:58 left
- Another stop on defense got the ball in the hands of Rose Jr. and he connected on another three to give the team's its biggest lead, 59-47, with 2:55 remaining
- The Titans then went 8-for-8 down the stretch at the free throw line to seal the victory
Game Notes:
- The series with Western Michigan dates all the way back to 1916 as the Titans lead the overall series, 28-26
- The Titans are now 10-16 all-time on the road at Western Michigan, with the last win previously coming in 2000
- The Titans are now 288-167 (.632) all-time against other schools from the state of Michigan.
- Detroit Mercy came into the game averaging just 10.3 turnovers per game, top 10 in the nation
- Head coach Mike Davis made his Titan debut at Western Michigan in 2018, the same for Antoine Davis, who netted 32 points in that game
- Detroit Mercy is now 181-122 all-time against the MAC as the Titans broke a nine-game losing streak to the league with the last win coming at EMU, 78-74, in 2018
- The Titans also broke a 15-game road losing streak to non-conference opponents with the last win that victory at Eastern Michigan
- Detroit Mercy came into the game hitting 37-of-41 at the line, a 90.2 % clip, and was 16-of-18 at the charity stripe on Saturday
- Isiani's previous career high in rebounds was 11 against Milwaukee last season and he also grabbed 10 at Notre Dame this year
- Davis has now played 40 minutes or more 15 times in his career
- Davis passed Bill Ebben to move into 12th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,586 points and is now just 16 shy of 11th place and Jerry Davis '82 (1,602)
