DETROIT (1/7/2022) --Senior Antoine Davis became the all-time scoring leader in school history and Detroit Mercy tied a school record with 18, 3-pointers en route to a dominating 85-60 victory over Milwaukee on Friday night in Calihan Hall in a nationally televised game on ESPN2.

Davis tied his season-high with 39 points, but it was with his two free throws with 6:07 left giving him 35 and 36 points for 2,320, passing former Titan great and All-American Rashad Phillips for the school scoring record.  He was 13-of-20 from the field, 8-of-13 from three and a perfect 5-of-5 at the line and now has 2,323 career points, which is also good for fourth in Horizon League history. 

Junior Noah Waterman netted a season-high 12 points with four rebounds and two steals, while graduate senior Kevin McAdoo had 10 points, four assists, two steals and two rebounds. 

Detroit Mercy (5-7, 3-0 HL) saw Milwaukee (5-10, 3-3 HL) take a 6-2 lead early, but then caught fire from the outside as 3-pointers by Isiani, Davis and Waterman had the team up 14-8, which started a 15-0 run. Davis would nail three more from distance for a 20-8 advantage with 13:35 left in the first. The lead grew to 18, 28-10, just a few minutes later as Davis and Waterman hit from downtown, and then Detroit Mercy ended the first half on a 14-2 spurt for a commanding 48-20 lead.

In the second half, it was more of the same as Davis started the Titans scoring by connecting on a three and also getting fouled, converting the free throw for a four-point play and a 52-24 advantage. Junior Madut Akec would sink one from three for a 57-26 lead - the Titans largest lead just three minutes into the second half - and Davis poured in another from the outside for a 62-31 score with just over 15 minutes to go and the red, white and blue never saw the game get in doubt. 

Junior Madut Akec just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards, while senior Willy Isiani had eight points and four rebounds.

The Titan defense held Milwaukee to 31.8% shooting in the first half and 6-of-26 from distance in the game, while winning the glass 36-28. Detroit Mercy also forced 16 turnovers and came away with eight steals.

Detroit Mercy ended the game shooting 48.3% overall - 56.7% in the first half alone - and was 18-of-35 (51.4%) from behind the arc. 

The Titans game against Green Bay on Sunday has been canceled and deemed a no-contest by the Horizon League due to health and safety protocols in the Phoenix program as the red, white and blue will next be in action on Thursday when they visit Purdue Fort Wayne. 

First Half:

• Isiani, Davis and Waterman with back to back to back triples and Davis hit another for eight early points as the Titans led 14-8 just five minutes in
• Detroit Mercy upped its run to 15-0 as Davis would connect on three more 3-pointers for a 20-8 lead with 13:35 left, giving him 14 points 
• Davis had another three and one from Waterman had the Titans up 28-10 with 10:15 on the clock
• A great pass from Davis to Isiani and his layup had the Titans ahead 34-18 with 5:35 left
• The Titans went on a 14-2 run to end the first half for a 48-20 lead as Johnson and Waterman hit from downtown and McAdoo got inside for a layup and then hit a three 

Second Half:

• Davis had a 3-pointer and was fouled, hitting a free throw for a four-point play and a 52-24 lead
• Akec would add a three and Davis went inside for a layup and a  57-26 advantage with 16:50 to go
• Davis connected on another from long range and then a long two for a 62-31 lead with 15:29 left
• Waterman made a three for a 67-38 lead with 13:22 left
• Two free throws from Akec and later a triple from McAdoo had the team up 74-49 with 7:35 remaining
• Davis hit two free throws with 6:07 on the clock for his 35th and 36th point, breaking the school record as the red, white and blue led 76-51
• Davis poured in his 39th point with his seventh 3-pointer at 3:51 for a 79-53 lead
• Akec finished the Titan scoring with a layup with 25 seconds left 

Game Notes:

• The Titans have now won five in a row in the series and are 16-10 all-time against Milwaukee at home, while Milwaukee leads the all-time series 29-28
• The Detroit Mercy-Milwaukee match-up was supposed to feature a family rivalry as well as two of the top mid-major players in the country going at it in the Titans' Antoine Davis and Panthers' Patrick Baldwin Jr, but Baldwin was out with an injury
• Milwaukee is coached by Baldwin's dad, Pat, while Detroit Mercy has Antoine's dad Mike Davis as the head coach and son Mike Davis Jr. as the assistant coach
• The last Titan home game nationally broadcast was against Wright State in 2017-18
• Detroit Mercy has now won 10 in a row at home dating back to last season, the longest home winning streak since the red, white and blue won 12 in a row with three to end the 2014-15 season and the first nine home games of 2015-16
• The Titans have connected on at least nine 3-pointers in eight games this season and ranked 37th in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (9.6) and 94th in three-point field-goal percentage (35.6%)
• Detroit Mercy also had 18, 3-pointers against Milwaukee on Feb. 26, 2000, where Desmond Ferguson set the school record with 10 triples
• The Titans season-high was 89 points their last time out in the win over Central Michigan
• Davis came into the game averaging 28.8 points, shooting 44.0% overall (33-of-75), 45.2% from three (19-of-42) and 90.0% at the line (30-of-33) against Milwaukee, with games of 32, 27, 29 and 27 points in four career contests
• Davis now has 66 career 20-point games, 22 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in just 94 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 94 games - reaching at least 17 points in 76 of them
• Davis was in double figures for the 94th straight game and is now two behind Oregon State's Tres Trinkle (2016-20) for sixth place as he entered the season with a chance at the NCAA record, held by La Salle's Lionel Simmons (1986-90) and Campbell's Chris Clemons at 115 (2015-19)
• Davis comes into the year fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.92, three-point field goals per game and has connected on a 3-pointer in 90 of his 94 collegiate games and also has 52 career games with four or more triples, 20 with six or more, 10 games with seven or more, and has thrice connected on 10 in his career, tying a school record as well as breaking a conference tournament record
• Davis now has 42 career games with five or more assists - including seven this season
• McAdoo was in double figures for the first time since scoring 10 points at UIC
• Akec now has six 10+ rebounding outings on the year

Check out the Titans greeting Antoine Davis when he got back to the locker room #DetroitsCollegeTeam pic.twitter.com/f52UnNmB2F

— Detroit Mercy MBB (@DetroitMBB) January 8, 2022