ROCHESTER, Mich. (1/23/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team shot 64.0% in the second half and grabbed the lead for good early in the second to earn an 82-72 road victory over Metro Series rival Oakland on Saturday from the O'rena.

Junior guard Antoine Davis led four Titans (4-8, 3-5 Horizon League) in double figures with 27 points, his fourth straight game with 20 or more, and added a team-high seven assists. Redshirt freshman Noah Waterman added 18 points, hitting four 3-pointers, and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Senior guard Dwayne Rose Jr. scored in double figures for the second-straight game, totaling a season-best 16 points and graduate senior Bul Kuol posted 10 points, a season-high nine rebounds and five assists for the Titans.

Detroit Mercy led 37-34 at the halftime break and then shot 16-of-25 (64%) in the second half, including connecting on 6-of-12 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. The Golden Grizzlies (6-13, 6-6 HL)  took a 45-43 lead at the 17:47 mark of the second, but the Titans proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to go ahead for good, 53-45, with 14:44 left.

After OU pulled to within one point, 57-56, the Titans again went on a run -- this time an 11-0 spurt -- highlighted by three consecutive 3-pointers, one from Davis and the next two from Kuol. The 11-0 run gave Detroit Mercy a double-digit advantage, 68-56, with 9:12 left.

Oakland would chip away and got to within two points, 74-72, with 2:55 remaining on the clock but senior Matt Johnson countered by knifing to the hoop on the next possession, scoring on a driving lay-up as the Titans went up four points, 76-72. Neither team scored the next few minutes until with 1 minute left, Oakland was called for a double technical and Davis made all four free throws to essentially seal the victory for the Titans as they went ahead, 80-72.

Detroit Mercy held Oakland scoreless in the final 2:55 of the game. Waterman closed out the scoring with 30 seconds left, scoring on a wide open dunk.

Unlike Friday's contest, the Titans got off to a great start, taking an 18-11 lead less than 5 minutes into the game. Four different Titans scored during that stretch, with Davis hitting his first three 3-point attempts of the game to help the red, white and blue out to an early advantage. Johnson hit two 3-pointers midway through the first half as Detroit Mercy led 24-15. Rose Jr. scored on a thunderous dunk later on and scored eight points during the final 7:20 of the first half. Rose Jr. had 10 points at he halftime break.

Davis made 9-of-15 shots and connected on 5-of-10 shots from deep. Waterman shot 7-for-11, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Rose Jr. also shot above 50%, hitting 6-of-11 field goal attempts. Graduate senior Marquell Fraser had a team-best and season-high six assists and Johnson had eight points and two steals for the red, white and blue.

As a team, Detroit Mercy shot 52.6% overall (30-for-57) in the contest and was also efficient shooting from beyond the arc, sinking 13-of-31 from 3-point range (42.6%). The Titans assisted on 21 of 30 field goals and again held the rebounding edge in the contest for the second-straight day, 31-28. The Titans were 9-of-11 from the free throw line (81.8%).

The Titans will be back in action next week as they visit Youngstown State on Friday and Saturday with both games set to tip at 5:00 p.m.

First Half:

• It was a 4-4 game when Davis and Waterman connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and then Kuol's jumper gave the Titans a 12-7 lead at the 16:32 mark
• Davis would hit two more 3-pointers in the opening five minutes as his second gave the team an 18-11 lead
• The Titans would extend their lead to nine as a Johnson three had the team up 21-13 at 11:56 and then 24-15 through the midway point
• After Oakland scored five-straight points, Rose Jr. had back-to-back baskets with the second slamming it down for a 28-20 advantage with 6:55 remaining 
• The Golden Grizzlies answered with a 12-0 run in the next four minutes to jump out in front, 32-28
• The Titans ended that with two free throws from Rose Jr. and a bucket from Kuol to knot it at 32-32
• Davis put the Titans ahead with a trey to make it 35-34 and a late basket by Rose Jr. and the red, white and blue led 37-34 at the break

Second Half:

• Waterman hit a couple of 3-pointers to give the Titans a four-point lead at 40-36 and 43-39
• Oakland would take the lead again, but a 10-0 run by the Titans had them up 53-45 as Fraser had a three-point play on a layup and a free throw, Davis hit a jumper, Rose Jr. connected on a pair of free throws and finally, Waterman drained his fourth triple at the 14:44 mark
• Oakland trimmed the lead to one, a few times, the latest at 57-56 with 10:57 left when the Titans went on am 11-0 run to open a 12-point advantage
• Davis began it with a three, Kuol had back-to-back trifectas and then Waterman ended it with a ferocious dunk for a 68-56 lead with 9:12 on the clock
• The Titans saw their lead slip to just two, 74-72, with 2:55 left when Johnson was able to get inside for a layup
• With under a minute to go and the Titans up 76-72, Oakland was called for a pair of technical fouls and Davis sealed the win hitting four free throws to up the advantage to eight, 80-72

Game Notes:

• The Titans ended a 10-game losing streak to Oakland and now trail the overall series, 16-14
• The Titans are 2-8 on the road with their other win coming in 2017, 93-88
• The Titans tallied 41 assists in the two games and the 21 today are the most since they had 36 against Siena Heights on Nov. 25, 2017
• Detroit Mercy has now made 52, 3-pointers in the last four games as the Titans came into the game leading the HL with 9.1 triples per game
• The Titans were also leading the league and 16th in the nation in free throw percentage at 79.2% and that will go up after hitting 9-of-11
• After starting the season averaging just 16.3 points, shooting 31.1 % from the field (37-of-119) and 10.4% from three (5-of-48) in the first six games, Davis is averaging 27.9 points and 5.0 assists, while shooting 51.4% from the field (52-of-101) and 47.5% from behind the arc (29-of-61) in his last six games
• Davis has now reached 20 points in his last four contests and 50 times in 72 career collegiate games
• Davis is now just 19 points behind Willie Green '03 for fourth place in school history (1,779)
• Davis also passed Butler's Darin Archbold (1,744) for 36th place in Horizon League history in scoring and is just one point behind Andy Elkins of Evansville for 35th place 
• Davis now has 589 career field goals, going ahead of Brian Humes (585) and Bill Ebben (583) for ninth in school history
• Rose Jr.'s career-high was 22 at UIC last season
• Kuol has posted double digits in scoring 11 times this season with three 20-point outings