DETROIT (2/26/2022) -- Senior Antoine Davis poured in a game-high 26 points and the Titans erased a 16-point deficit, but the late rally just fell short as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped an 81-78 contest to Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday afternoon on Dick Vitale Court.

Prior to the game, the Titans honored their three-member senior class in Davis, Willy Isiani and Matt Johnson. 

The loss ended the Titans' 15-game home winning streak as they finished the regular season at 13-14 overall and 10-7 in the Horizon League, where they will be the fifth, sixth or seventh seed in the playoffs and host a first-round game on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne moved to 20-10 on the season and 15-6 in the HL and will be the second seed. 

Davis scored his 26 on 8-of-19 shooting and 5-of-10 from three to go with six rebounds and three assists. Johnson scored a season-high 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting, 3-of-5 from three and 8-of-9 at the free-throw line along with five rebounds and four assists. 

The Titans found themselves down 11-0 a little more than four minutes and trailing by 16, 41-25, with five minutes left in the first half. Detroit Mercy would then trim that to just seven at the break as 3-pointers from Davis and Johnson made the score 45-37. 

The red, white and blue would continue to cut into the Mastodons' lead in the second half and would eventually tie it at 71-71 following a free throw from Johnson with 4:50 to go.

Purdue Fort Wayne would then score seven in a row over the next 4:25 for a seven-point lead at 78-71, but the Titans never let down as two free throws from Johnson and then a three by graduate senior Kevin McAdoo had the team trailing by just two, 78-76, with 11 seconds left. After the Mastodons hit two free throws, Davis was fouled shooting a three and he made the first two free throws, but missed the third on purpose, but Purdue Fort Wayne got the rebound and made 1-of-2 at the line.

The Titans had one final chance to tie it up, but Davis' halfcourt heave just rimmed out. 

Junior Noah Waterman netted 13 points and grabbed a team and career-tying eight boards. McAdoo added eight points, four assists and three boards and Isiani posted six points, four rebounds and two assists. 

The Titans shot 49.0% overall and were 15-of-32 (46.9%) from three with 15 assists, while outrebounding the mastodons, 31-24. 

Detroit Mercy will now open the postseason on Tuesday at home with a first-round game in the Keeps Horizon League men's basketball championship. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. and a full bracket will be released after the regular season concludes tonight. 

First Period:

• Purdue Fort Wayne started the game on an 11-0 run until a Davis triple ended that
• A 3-pointer by McAdoo cut the deficit to 16-8 with 13:14 left
• Waterman and Isiani hit treys and that made it a 23-16 game with 10:44 remaining
• Detroit Mercy got within six twice, once with a three from Davis at 8:47 to make it 27-21 and then again with a layup from senior Buay Koka for a 29-23 score at 8:23
• The Mastodons scored seven-straight to open a double-digit lead again at  36-23 with 6:45 to go
• Davis and Johnson had 3-pointers in the last 52 seconds to get the red, white and blue to within seven at the break, 45-37

Second Period:

• The teams traded baskets in the first five minutes as a three by Waterman had the Titans down 49-42 with 15:21 left
• A layup from Johnson trimmed the deficit to just five, 49-44, with 14:45 remaining
• After the Mastodons went up by 10 again, 54-44, Waterman connected on a three and Davis went inside for a layup and then banged in a triple to make it a one-possession game, 54-52, with 12:44 left
• Purdue Fort Wayne answered that with eight-straight points until a Johnson three made it 62-55 with 10:18 remaining
• A three from Isiani cut it to 62-58 and then Johnson was fouled shooting a three and he made all three at the line to pull the teams within one, 64-63, with 8:06 on the clock
• The Titans made it a one-point game again as Davis drove to the rim for a layup and he was fouled and his free throw had the team down just 67-66 with 7:23 remaining
• A jumper by Davis had the tea down by one again at 69-68 with 7:02 left and two free throws had the score just 71-70 at the 5:27 mark
• Detroit Mercy finally tied it at 71-71 as Johnson split a pair at the line with 4:50 left, but Purdue Fort Wayne scored seven-straight over the next four minutes
• Johnson hit two free throws and after Purdue Fort Wayne missed a pair, McAdoo drilled a trey and the Titans trailed just 78-76 with 11 ticks left
• Davis was fouled down four with 3.1 seconds left and he made 2-of-3, missing the third on purpose, but the Titans could not get the offensive rebound
• Davis had one last heave from half court as the buzzer sounded 

Game Notes:

• Despite being just 161 miles apart, this was only the sixth career meeting between the two schools as the all-time series is now tied at 3-3, including 2-2 at home
• The Titans began the season with nine-straight road games and, due to cancellations, played 13 of their first 16 and 18 of their first 23 on the road and played just nine of their 27 regular-season home games at home as well as six of their 17 HL games
• Detroit Mercy won the rebounding battle for the 10th time this year
• The Titans have connected on at least nine 3-pointers in 18 games this season and 15 in five games on the year, with a season-high 18 against Milwaukee at home, tying a school record as they came into the game eighth in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (10.5) and 41st in three-point field-goal percentage (37.2%), tops in the HL in both
• Yesterday, Davis was named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team, the first Titan on the HL All-Academic Team since Evan Bruinsma and Ugochukwu Njoku in 2013-14
• Davis now has 75 career 20-point games, 25 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 108 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 108 games - reaching at least 17 points in 89 of them
• Davis was in double figures for the 108th straight game and is tied for fourth in NCAA history in that category with former Arizona standout Sean Elliott (1985-89)
• Davis now has 2,655 career points and is now 30th in NCAA history, 50 shy of the top 25, and is also now just 41 points shy of second place in HL history behind Byron Larkin (Xavier, 1984-88)
• Davis now has 419 career 3-pointers to move to 13th in NCAA history, passing Akeem Richmond (East Carolina, 2010-14) and Stephen Curry (Davidson, 2005-09)
• Davis now has 103 triples on the season for third in school history, knocking down 100 for the third time in his career following the 132 as a freshman for second and 101 as a sophomore for fourth
• Waterman was in double figures for the ninth time in the last 12 games
• Johnson's career-high is 24 points against Purdue Fort Wayne last season on a career-best 9-of-14 from the field with six 3-pointers to go with six rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne