DETROIT (2/25/2021) -- University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball junior Antoine Davis put on a show Thursday evening, hitting a Horizon League Basketball Championship tournament record 10, 3-pointers and scoring a tournament-record 46 points to lead the fifth-seeded Titans to an 83-73 first-round Horizon League Championship victory over Robert Morris from Calihan Hall.

Davis shot 16-of-26 from the floor and 10-of-16 from beyond the 3-point arc to set a new HL Championship record, previously held by Xavier's Byron Larkin, who had 45 points against Loyola in 1987. His 46 points was also a Titan tournament record and three points shy of the Detroit Mercy school record of 49 points, held by Archie Tullos. Davis' 10 triples tied a Titan school record that he has made two other times along with Desmond Ferguson in 2000, and also established a new HL tournament mark for treys, topping Rashad Phillips' nine 3-pointers made in a tournament game against Cleveland State in 2001.

Davis scored 24 points in the first half, passing Dave DeBusschere for third place on the all-time scoring list as well as reaching the 2,000-point mark in his career, just the third Titan to reach that plateau, joining Phillips and John Long. Davis matched Robert Morris' point total in the opening 20 minutes as the Titans held a 36-24 halftime lead.

Detroit Mercy used a 17-0 run during the first half to take the lead for good in the contest, taking a 27-14 lead at the 4:11 mark of the opening half following the run. The Colonials pulled to within seven points early in the second half, but Detroit Mercy continued to make its shots down the stretch and went 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, hitting all of them in the last 8:17 of the game.

Graduate senior Bul Kuol added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Titans (12-9), while junior Chris Brandon tallied his fifth career double-double with 10 points and a season-best 13 rebounds. Sophomore Noah Waterman had six points and graduate senior Marquell Fraser dished out six assists for the red, white and blue, which led by as many as 15 points in the contest.

Detroit Mercy shot 55.4% (30-for-54) from the floor and 54.2% (13-of-24) from 3-point range in the game. The Titans outrebounded the Colonials, 34-21, and also had five blocks.

The Titans head to the quarterfinals of the 2021 Horizon League Championship, visiting No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky on Tuesday, March 2 as the highest remaining seed after the first round. The contest is set for 7 p.m. ET from BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky, and may be seen live on ESPN+. 

First Half:

• RMU scored the first five points until Davis drilled a three to get the Titans on the board
• The Colonials then led 9-3 when Davis had a layup and hit another three, which gave him career points 1,986 and passing Dave DeBusschere for third in school history at the 13:32 mark
• Davis hit a jumper and then another three gave the Titans their first lead, 15-14, with 8:32 remaining
• Rose Jr. then connected on a triple and Brandon added a layup for a 10-0 run and a 20-14 advantage with 6:39 on the clock 
• The run went up to 12-0 as Davis had a steal and went the length of the court for a layup and a 22-14 lead
• Davis added another triple and Kuol hit a jumper and it was a 17-0 run and a 27-14 lead with 4:11 on the clock
• After a RMU basket, Kuol knocked one down from long range and it was a 30-16 advantage with 2:30 left
• Davis would add two more 3-pointers and the Titans took a 36-24 lead into the break as he had 24 at the half

Second Half:

• Davis started the second half with a 3-pointer put the Titans up by 15, 39-24
• Robert Morris was able to cut the lead to seven, 44-37, at 14:30, but Brandon ended that run with a layup
• The Titans led 51-42 when Davis hit a jumper with 12:22 left
• The Colonials cut the lead under 10 on a few occasions, but baskets by Kuol and then Waterman had the Titans up 57-47 with 9:31 remaining
• Detroit Mercy couldn't pull away as Robert Morris kept cutting the lead to under double digits when Davis connected on another 3-pointer to make it 68-57 with 5:46 to go
• A couple of free throws put Davis over 40 points and the Titans had a 72-60 advantage
• Davis would break the record for Horizon League Tournament triples at the 3:59 mark to give him 44 points and the Titans a 75-63 lead
• Davis fed Brandon for a layup and the Titans upped their lead to 79-66 with 1:43 on the clock
• Davis would then break the Horizon League Tournament record with a layup for 46 points and an 81-69 advantage with just over a minute left

Game Notes:

• The Titans now lead the all-time series, 4-0
• This was the first time in school history that the Titans played an opponent three-straight times
• It was Detroit Mercy's first tournament win since beating Youngstown State 92-79 at Joe Louis Arena in 2016
• Detroit Mercy is now a perfect at home as it is 7-0 all-time in playoff games in Calihan Hall
• The game mark just the third time the Titans ended the season and began the postseason with the same foe as they lost at Evansville in the season finale before beating the Purple Aces in the first round of the MCC Tournament in 1985-86, while in 2017-18, the Titans dropped their last game at home to Green Bay before falling in the first round of the HL Championship at Little Cesars Arena
• Detroit Mercy has tallied at least 50.0% shooting from the field in seven of the last 10 games and nine of the last 14, reaching as high as 66.0% in the win against Green Bay
• Detroit Mercy's +13 rebounding was the second-most on the season behind the +14 it had in the second game of the Purdue Fort Wayne season
• The Titans tallied at least 15 assists for the 11th time this season
• The Titans have connected on double-digit 3-pointers in 10 of their last 13 games and 11 times this season, actually, all 11 times have been in the last 15 games as they came into the contest leading the HL and 18th in DI with 9.9 triples per game, while it's 38.3% from behind the arc was second in the league and 19th in the country
• The Titans were 10-of-12 at the line today as they came into the game fourth in the nation and tops in the HL again hitting 80.1% on the year
• It was the third time in Davis' career that he has tied a school record with 10 triples, a record shared with Desmond Ferguson who had 10 against Milwaukee in 2000
• The 46 points by Antoine Davis broke the Horizon League Tournament record of 45 by Xavier's Byron Larkin against Loyola in 1987, while his 10 triples broke Rashad Phillips' tournament record of nine against Cleveland State in 2001
• Davis has now connected on 49-straight free throws
• Davis now has 2,024 career points, 143 behind John Long for second in school history, and 312 career 3-pointers, 36 shy of Rashad Phillips career mark of 348
• His 46 points were three shy of the school record set by Archie Tullos against Bradley in 1988 and also two shy of his career-high of 48 he had against Wright State as a freshman
• It was Brandon's fifth career double, while his 13 rebounds was his 12th career double-digit rebounding game and the most since he pulled down 17 boards at home against Cleveland State last season 
• Kuol has now been in double figures in 18 games on the season
• Fraser is now averaging 4.5 assists in his last six games and has 67 assists against just 29 turnovers on the season