ROCHESTER, Mich. (1/22/2021) -- Junior guard Antoine Davis scored 30 points for the second-straight game and the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team caught fire in the second half, scoring 58 points in the final 20 minutes to stage a furious comeback attempt at Oakland, but the Titans came up just short Friday from the O'rena, 86-81.

Davis was 10-of-20 from the floor and hit six 3-pointers, adding a team-high six assists. Senior guard Dwayne Rose Jr. tied his season-high with 15 points off the bench and graduate forward Bul Kuol also had 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and dishing out four helpers for Detroit Mercy (3-8, 2-5 Horizon League).

The Titans were down 48-23 at halftime and trailed by as many as 27 points in the game, but washed it all away with a 23-3 run midway through the stanza. The Titans trailed 71-46 with 11:29 remaining, but used the 17-1 run to pull within single-digits, 72-63, with 6:55 left on the clock. Davis had 16 points during that stretch, including sinking four 3-pointers.

The red, white and blue extended the run to 23-3, when after an Oakland bucket, the Titans sank back-to-back 3-pointers by Kuol and Davis in a matter of seconds as Detroit Mercy was suddenly down just five points, 74-69, with 5:44 remaining on the scoreboard.

The Titans continued to claw away at the Oakland advantage and got within four, 77-73, after four-straight Noah Waterman free throws, with 4:18 remaining and then within one possession, 82-79, after a Dwayne Rose Jr. lay-up with 1:21 left. One minute later, Rose grabbed an offensive rebound off a Kuol 3-point miss and laid it in as the Titans were down just one point, 82-81, with 19 seconds on the clock.

Oakland converted from the line the next time down the court to go ahead 84-81 and then the Titans turned the ball over with just 10 seconds left on the clock. OU again made two free throws to seal the victory, which was the third game between the two rivals this season that was decided by five points or less.

The Titans were efficient from the free-throw line, missing just once, finishing 15-of-16 (93.8%) from the line. Detroit Mercy made 12, 3-pointers and shot 27-for-65 (41.5%) overall from the field in the game. Oakland (6-12, 6-5 HL) made 15 triples and shot 51.9% from the floor.

Waterman and senior Marquell Fraser each had seven rebounds to lead the squad, tying a season-high for Waterman. Junior Chris Brandon added five caroms and two steals. Detroit Mercy took care of the ball in the game, turning it over just nine times. The Titans also had the edge in rebounding, 36-35.

It was the third game of the Metro Series this season and first at Oakland due to schedule changes in the Horizon League caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The teams will be back in action tomorrow with tip-off set for 5:00 p.m.

• Oakland now leads the series, 16-13, and has won 10 in a row and 15 of the last 17 since joining the Horizon League in 2013-14
• The Titans last had 20 assists in a game on Feb. 24, 2018, with 20 against Green Bay
• Detroit Mercy has now made 39, 3-pointers in the last three games as the Titans came into the game leading the HL with 8.9 triples per game
• The Titans were also leading the league and 16th in the nation in free throw percentage at 77.7% and that will go up after hitting 15-of-16
• Davis was the last Titan with back-to-back 30-point games scoring 30 against Louisiana and 33 at Ohio last year
• Davis now has 1,733 points as he passed Archie Tullos '88 (1,731) for fifth place in school history in scoring and is now 46 points behind Willie Green '03 for fourth (1,779)
• He also passed YSU's Quin Humphrey (1,707), UIC's Josh Mayo (1,718), Xavier's Brian Grant (1,719) and Tullos to move into 36th place all-time in scoring in Horizon League history and now has 262 career 3-pointers, ninth in HL record book
• Rose Jr. also had 15 points against Kent State