ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (2/13/2022) -- Three Titans scored in double figures and the Titans started out hot, but a big second-half run by Oakland was the difference as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped a 75-59 decision on the road on Sunday afternoon in a #MetroSeries showdown.

The loss dropped Detroit Mercy to 10-3 overall and 7-6 in league play, while Oakland moved to 18-8, 11-4 in the conference.

Senior Antoine Davis led the team with 18 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Junior Noah Waterman scored a season-high 16 points with six boards and two steals and graduate senior DJ Harvey totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-best seven assists. 

The Titans started out on fire with back-to-back 3-pointers and Waterman later added one for a 9-3 lead. Detroit Mercy upped its lead to 11, 14-3, on a bucket by Harvey and a three from Davis. 

Later on, Davis and Waterman buried two-straight treys and the red, white and blue led 22-7, midway through the half. The Titans then led 28-15 off a Waterman triple with 6:19 left, but the Golden Grizzlies ended the half on a 15-4 run to trim the lead to two, 32-30. 

In the second half, Waterman made another from distance for a 43-38 advantage and Isiano gave the team a six-point lead, 46-60, with 16 minutes to go. But Oakland got hot after that and was able to outscore the Titans the rest of the way. 

Seniors Willy Isiani and Matt Johnson each had five points, while graduate senior Kevin McAdoo recorded four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

The Titans ended the game with 13 triples.

Detroit Mercy will now end the regular season with four-straight home games as the Titans begin the homestand hosting NKU on Friday at 7:00 p.m. 

First Half:

• Harvey had back-to-back 3-pointers for a 6-0 lead
• Waterman then hit one from distance for a 9-3 lead just three minutes in
• Harvey went inside for a jumper and then Davis buried a three for a 14-3 advantage with 15:05 on the clock
• Davis hit from three and then Waterman connected on another for a 22-7 lead with 10:09 left
• After Oakland scored six-straight, Harvey rang up another from behind the arc for a 25-13 advantage with 7:40 on the scoreboard
• A three by Waterman had the red, white and blue ahead, 28-15, with 6:19 left
• Oakland then ended the half on a 15-4 run as the Titans led 32-30 at the break

Second Half:

• Davis started the scoring with another from behind the arc
• Oakland briefly took a 36-35 lead, but then Waterman hit two free throws and Davis nailed a triple for a 40-36 lead with 17:03 remaining
• A three by Waterman made it 43-38 and then Isiani hit one and the Titans were ahead 46-40 with 16 minutes to go
• Junior Mohamed Sylla had a basket inside for a 48-44 lead at the 14:49 mark
• Oakland then went on 23-5 run over the next nine minutes until a three by Johnson made it 67-53 with 8:37 left
• Johnson had an offensive rebound and put back and two free throws from Davis had the Titans down 69-57 with 3:58 on the clock and he also had a pair with under a minute to go

Game Notes:

• This was the 32nd career meeting between the two schools, located roughly 26 miles apart as Oakland now leads the series, 17-14, including 9-2 at home
• The Titans have now played 18 of their first 23 on the road this season
• The Titans have connected on at least nine 3-pointers in 14 games this season and came into the game ranked 14th in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (10.1) and 39th in three-point field-goal percentage (36.6%), tops in the HL in both statistics
• Davis now has 403 career triples, passing Radford's Doug Day and Syracuse's Gerry McNamara for 19th all-time in NCAA history
• Davis now has scored in double figures in all 104 games, fifth in NCAA history and four shy of former Arizona standout Sean Elliott (1985-89) for fourth
• Davis now has 2,554 career points as he moved to 49th in NCAA history and just 142 points behind Byron Larkin (Xavier, 1984-88) for second in Horizon League history
• Waterman tallied 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in the four games last season against Oakland 
• Waterman tallied just 3.0 points in his first seven games on 26.6% shooting (8-of-30), but now been in double figures five times in his last eight games, tallying 10.4 points on 44.6% (25-of-56), including 17-of-41 (41.4%) from three in that span
• Harvey's career-high in assists was four against Central Michigan this season
• Harvey is averaging 13.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in the last seven games, shooting 55.0% (38-of-69) overall and 41.4% from three (17-of-41), going in double digits in all seven