DETROIT (1/15/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team came out of quarantine with a vengeance, tying a school record for 3-pointers and shooting nearly 70.0% in the game, and that spelled doom for Green Bay as junior Antoine Davis led four players in double figures with a season-high 26 points in an 86-61 rout on Friday night in Calihan Hall.

Detroit Mercy (2-7, 1-4 HL) shot 66.0% in the game (31-of-47), 62.5% in the first half and 69.6% in the second half, and knocked down 17 triples for the third time in the past four years. 

Davis shot 10-of-16 overall and 5-of-9 from three, while registering a season-high eight assists with three rebounds and a steal. Graduate senior Buol Kuol had 19 points going 6-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from three with six boards and two steals. Redshirt freshman Noah Waterman had 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 4-of-7 from three and senior Matt Johnson added 11 points and five rebounds. 

Detroit Mercy saw Green Bay (3-10, 3-6 HL) score the first six points, but the Titans quickly came back and took a 19-12 lead just eight minutes in. The Phoenix got within two, 19-17, but that was as close as the visitors would get as the red, white and blue were deadly from the field. The Titans opened a double-digit lead at 32-20 as graduate senior Buoy Koka slammed home a pass from senior Marquell Fraser and that was followed by Kuol connecting on one of his five triples.

The Titans kept the offense going and took a 44-31 lead at the break. In the second, the offense was still on fire with Davis scoring 22 of his 26 in the half and the team lengthened its advantage to 25, 72-47, on the strength of back-to-back triples by Davis and Waterman. 

Davis hit the Titans' 16th and 17th 3-pointer of the game later on as Detroit Mercy extended its lead to as many as 29, 86-57.

The Titans out-rebounded Green Bay, 31-20, and came away with a season-high 11 steals. The defense was whistled for only eight fouls in the game, keeping the Phoenix to just two free throw attempts, while forcing 16 turnovers.

The two teams will conclude their weekend series tomorrow with game time set at 5:00 p.m.

First Half:

• Green Bay had a 6-0 lead thanks to a pair of 3-pointers, but the Titans scored eight-straight points, the last three off a Kuol 3-pointer
• Green Bay then led, 12-11, when Detroit Mercy scored eight-straight points again as Waterman and Isiani had triples and Davis added a basket for a 19-12 lead at the 12:07 mark
• The Phoenix pulled within two, 19-17, but another Titan run extended it to 26-17 as Johnson nailed a three, and then Brandon and Johnson had layups for the nine-point advantage with 8:51 left
• Detroit Mercy opened a double-digit lead, 32-20, as Koka slammed home a pass from Fraser and then Kuol came up with a steal and a three and on the next possession was fouled, hitting one at the line
• The Titans were in full command the rest of the half, ending the stanza on another basket from downtown from Kuol and two free throws from Fraser with two seconds left on the clock gave the team a 44-31 lead at the break

Second Half:

• A dunk by Brandon gave the Titans a 46-33 lead early in the half
• Davis knocked in a trifecta to up that advantage to 14, 51-37, with 15:37 left in the contest
• A Kuol triple made it 57-43 at the 10:31 mark and five-straight point from Davis on a layup and a trey elevated the lead to 62-47 with 12:05 remaining
• The red, white and blue would later go on a 10-0 run to raise its advantage to 25, 72-47, as Davis and Waterman added 3-pointers during that spurt
• Davis would nail the Titans' 16th trey of the night to once again put the team up by 25, 75-50, with 7:32 left
• The Titans kept pouring it on, going on an 8-0 run as Davis scored six, including knocking down the school-tying 17th 3-pointer of the game and then sophomore Jamail Pink scored his first collegiate points on a jumper

Game Notes:

• Detroit Mercy now trails the all-time series, 34-27, and are 15-13 against the Phoenix in Calihan Hall
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Detroit Mercy had not played since Dec. 27 as the team did not travel to UIC as it was on a mental wellness pause and then was on a positive test pause last week, canceling its games at Milwaukee
• The 19 days between game days is the longest stretch in school history, surpassing a slew of 12-day droughts, with the last being in 2001-03 when the Titans visited Michigan State in the Preseason NIT on Nov. 12 and then played Alabama A&M at home 12 days later
• The Titans had 17 triples in a win at home against Loyola Maryland in 2018 (17-of-28) and Siena Heights in 2017 (17-of-28)
• Detroit Mercy won the rebounding battle for the second-straight game and the +11 margin on the boards was the most since out-rebounding Milwaukee by 12 (46-34) last season
• The 11 steals are the most since they had 11 against Eastern Michigan last year
• The 66.0% shooting was the best by the Titans since shooting 68.2% (30-of-44) at Youngstown State in an 83-70 victory in 2015
• Davis passed Terry Tyler for seventh place in school history with 1,673 total points and is just 17 behind Terry Duerod for sixth place
• He also passed UIC's Tarkus Ferguson and Green Bay's Mike Schachtner for 45th place all-time in Horizon League in scoring and is just five shy of Green Bay's Rahmon Fletcher and Alex Brown for 44th (1,678)
• Kuol has now been in double figures in six-straight games