DETROIT (2/19/2021) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team opened the final weekend of the regular season on a winning note Friday as four Titans scored 14 or more points in an 85-74 home victory over Horizon League newcomer Robert Morris from Calihan Hall.

With the victory, Detroit Mercy improved to 10-9 overall and 9-6 in Horizon League play with just one game left on the regular-season schedule. The win was also the Titans' ninth in their past 11 games.

The Titans shot 50.8% from the floor in the contest and junior guard Antoine Davis led all scorers with 26 points, tying a season-high with eight assists and sinking all 10 free throw shots. Graduate senior forward Bul Kuol notched his first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, sinking 8-of-9 field goal attempts. Sophomore guard Noah Waterman tied his season-high with 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers and junior forward Chris Brandon contributed 14 points, six boards, three steals and a block off the bench. Graduate senior guard Marquell Fraser chipped in seven boards, five assists and two steals.

The Titans broke a 13-13 tie midway through the first half, using a 22-8 run to take a 35-21 lead over the Colonials with 6:14 left in the opening half. After the two teams traded buckets for the next few minutes, Davis scored six-straight points to give the Titans a 45-28 lead, scoring on a pair of buckets and then two free throws. RMU scored the final bucket of the first half, but the Titans held a 14-point advantage at the halftime break, 45-31.

Detroit Mercy continued its momentum early in the second half, scoring 18 points in the opening 5 minutes of the stanza with both Waterman and Davis hitting two 3-pointers during the stretch as well as Kuol hitting three field goals for six points as the Titans took a 63-44 lead. The Titans extended their advantage to 23 points, 67-44, at the 13:48 mark of the second half, before Robert Morris started to close the gap.

The Colonials (4-13, 3-11 HL) chipped away at the Titan advantage to pull to within seven points, 73-66, with 4:26 remaining. The Titans were clutch from the free throw line down the stretch, however, making their final 10 free throw shots. RMU pulled to within seven again, 79-72, with 46 seconds left on the clock, but Waterman then made a pair from the line and Davis closed the game out making four free throws in the final 35 seconds of the contest.

Overall in the game, Detroit Mercy was 17-for-22 (77.3%) from the line and also won the rebounding battle, 40-36. The Titans shot 55.0% in the second half after opening the game by shooting 48.7% in the first 20 minutes of play. Senior guard Matt Johnson added four points and four rebounds for the Titans.

The Titans and Colonials close out the regular season schedule Saturday evening in a 5 p.m. ET contest from Calihan Hall. The game may been seen live on ESPN3.com.

First Half:

• The Titans jumped out to a 7-2 lead behind a Davis bucket, Waterman trey and Brandon lay-up.
• Robert Morris countered, hitting two 3-pointers to take an early 8-7 advantage 5 minutes in.
• Brandon flushed an alley-oop from Fraser out of a media timeout as the Titans regained the lead.
• Kuol and Waterman had back-to-back lay-ups as Detroit Mercy led 13-10.
• After a RMU 3-point play, Davis found Kuol in the corner for a triple as the Titans again grabbed a lead, 16-13, at the 12-minute mark.
• The Titans extended that to an 8-0 run with Davis scoring off a steal and Waterman scoring on an old-fashioned 3-point play as the Titans led 21-13.
• After another Colonial 3-point play, the Titans hit back-to-back 3-pointers as Waterman and junior Willy Isiani connected from deep.
• Davis then sank a jumper just inside the 3-point arc as the Titans were ahead 31-18.
• The Titans made it a 22-5 run after Brandon and Kuol both scored after offensive rebounds to give the Titans a 35-18 advantage.
• The teams traded buckets for the next few minutes before Davis scored six-straight points on a pair of buckets and two free throws.
• RMU scored the final six points of the half, but the Titans held a 45-31 lead after 20 minutes.
• Davis (12 points) and Waterman (11 points) combined for 23 points in the first half.
• Kuol had nine points and eight boards in the first half and the Titans shot 48.7% (19-for-39) in the opening stanza, while committing just two turnovers.

Second Half:

• Kuol scored the first four points of the second half on a pair of field goals as the Titans went ahead 49-31.
• Waterman then hit his third 3-pointer of the game and after five RMU points, Davis connected on one from deep.
• Davis' 3-pointer opened an 8-2 run with Kuol following a RMU bucket with another jumper and then Davis connected on his second 3-pointer of the half.
• After a Colonial trey, Waterman sank his second triple of the half as the Titans scored 18 points in the first 5 minutes of the stanza, leading 63-44.
• Brandon made both free throws and then Kuol continued his big second half with another bucket to extend it to a 7-0 run and a 67-44 Titan lead.
• Robert Morris went on a mini-run of its own to cut into the Titan lead at 69-53 with 7:27 remaining in the contest.
• Fraser hit 1-of-2 free throws out of the under-8 media timeout and then RMU knocked down a jumper to pull within 15 points, 70-55.
• Kuol then sank 1-of-2 from the line and following a RMU field goal, Brandon sank a lay-up on Davis' seventh assist of the contest.
• The Colonials scored the next nine to pull within seven points, 73-66, with 4:27 left.
• Davis then was fouled and made a pair at the free throw line to end the Robert Morris run.
• After a RMU turnover, Davis lobbed one for Brandon, who dunked home his second alley-oop of the game as the Titans went up 11, 77-66, with 3:21 left.
• Brandon later had a block on a lay-up attempt by RMU with 2 minutes left.
• The Colonials called a timeout with 1:43 left after scoring to pull within nine, 77-68.
• Davis continued his stellar free throw shooting, hitting a pair with 1:18 remaining.
• After a RMU bucket, Waterman received the inbounds, was fouled and then converted at the line with two free throws with 37 seconds on the clock.
• Davis made four-straight free throws in the final 30 seconds, closing out a 10-for-10 effort at the line and closing the scoring in the game.

Game Notes:

• The Titans now lead the all-time series, 2-0
• Titan Hall-of-Famer Earl Cureton holds the honor of also being inducted in the Robert Morris Hall Of Fame as he played two seasons at RMU, the second of which (1976-77) was it's first as an NCAA Division I institution
• Detroit Mercy has tallied at least 50.0% shooting from the field in five of the last eight games and seven of the last 12, reaching as high as 66.0% in the win against Green Bay 
• Davis reached 20 points for the 11th-straight game, the most by a Titan since Spencer Haywood's 16th-straight in 1968-69
• The Titans have now recorded at least 15 assists in nine games on the season
• Davis now has 1,949 points, 16th in Horizon League history as he passed LaSalle's Kareem Townes (1,925), Loyola's David Bailey (1,933) and Butler's Matt Howard (1,939)
• He is still 36 points behind Dave DeBusschere for third in school history (1,985)
• Brandon was in double digits in back-to-back games for just the third time in his career and the first since scoring 18 and 15 against IUPUI and UIC last season
• Brandon's 14 points was the most since he scored 15 against UIC at home last year
• Kuol's previous career-high in rebounds was nine at Oakland
• Waterman also had 19 against Oakland at home
• Isiani hit his first 3-pointer since the second game against Green Bay, a span of eight games