HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (2/5/2022) -- Four Titans scored in double figures and some great free-throwing shooting down the stretch sealed the deal as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team took down NKU on the road, 74-68, on Saturday night.

Both teams were playing back-to-back games due to the winter storm that moved their respective Thursday games to Friday, but Detroit Mercy (9-11, 6-4 HL) showed no tired legs shooting a season-best 52.9% (27-of-51) from the field with 12 triples and going 8-of-12 at the line, including 6-for-6 in the last 20 seconds.

Senior Antoine Davis led the way with a game-high 19 points to go with four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Graduate senior DJ Harvey had 15 points and a game-high nine boards - just missing his second career double-double. Graduate senior Kevin McAdoo had 15 points and junior Madut Akec scored 15 with four rebounds and a game-high three steals. 

The Titans and NKU (12-10, 8-5 HL) traded leads early on but back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Willy Isiani and Harvey had the Titans ahead 21-15. The first-half lead would grow to six on two occasions, the latest at the buzzer as Davis' hit a turnaround jumper for a 33-29 lead at the break.

In the second, the Titans started the half with nine-straight points for a 42-29 advantage with Akec and Davis getting the first two baskets, McAdoo drilling a three and then Harvey coming up with the offensive rebound and layup just four minutes in.

The Norse would then go on a 21-7 over the next seven minutes to jump out in front, 50-49, but that quickly went away as Akec nailed a triple and Johnson would follow with another off a LeGreair offensive board for a 55-50 advantage with 6:38 left. The game would then be tied at 55-55 when Davis answered the call with a three for a lead the Titans would never relinquish. 

Later, Akec went from distance again and it was 61-57 with 4:45 remaining and Davis made one from behind the arc for a 66-62 lead with just over a minute to go. Down the stretch, Harvey, Davis and Akec would all make their free throws to propel the red, white and blue to a victory.

The Titans outrebounded the Norse, 28-21, and had 15 assists on their 27 baskets. 

Sophomore Kyle LeGreair handed out a career-tying and game-high five assists and Isiani finished with three points, three boards and career-tying five helpers. 

Detroit Mercy will now get ready for a busy week starting at Robert Morris on Wednesday followed by Youngstown State on Friday and at Oakland on Sunday. 

First Half:

• Davis started the game with a jumper and tied the game at 7-7 with a three at 15:07
• Koka had a dunk to knot it at 9-9 with 13:39 on the clock
• The Titans took a 15-12 lead with a 6-0 run as McAdoo had a free throw, Harvey had a basket and McAdoo connected from distance with 10:02 left
• Isiani and Harvey nailed back-to-back 3-pointers for a 21-15 lead at the 8:36 mark
• McAdoo swished a jumper at 5:36 for a 23-18 lead and went to the rim for a layup to make it 25-21 with 3:58 remaining and then split two free throws for a 26-21 advantage
• Akec connected on his first basket and it was a three for a 29-23 lead with 2:35 left
• Davis had a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give the red, white and blue a 33-27 lead at the break

Second Half:

• The Titans went on a 9-0 run to open a 42-29 lead just four minutes in
• Akec went inside for a layup off a nice pass from Davis and then Davis hit a jumper
• McAdoo hit from three and after NKU turned it over, Harvey had an offensive rebound and putback at 16:06
• After NKU, cut the lead to four, McAdoo downed a trifecta to make it 47-40 with 13:23 left
• The Titans had another seven-point lead as Harvey's pump fake freed him from a defender and hit jumper had the Titans ahead 49-42 with 11:34 remaining
• NKU kept chipping away and took a 50-49 lead, with a 21-7 run, at 8:43
• The lead was brief as Akec hit from distance just a few seconds later to put the red, white and blue in front 52-50
• LeGreair had a big offensive rebound and his kick out to Johnson led to a three and a 55-50 lead with 6:30 left
• Davis gave the Titans the lead again at 58-55 and Akec would hit another triple for a 61-57 lead with 4:50 on the clock
• Harvey with time winding down hit a jumper for a 63-59 lead after that
• Davis banged one in from three for a 68-65 lead with 1:23 on the scoreboard
• Harvey, Davis and Akec all were perfect down the stretch to seal the win

Game Notes:

• NKU leads the all-time series, 10-3, and are 6-2 at home as the Titans won on the road for the first time since 2016
• The Titans shot 51.0% (25-of-49) at NKU last year in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals, while the 52.9% today was the best they shot since their 55.6% (30-of-54) in last year's opening-round game against Robert Morris 
• The Titans won the rebounding battle for the eighth time this season
• The Titans have connected on at least nine 3-pointers in 12 games this season and rank 15th in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (10.1) and 27th in three-point field-goal percentage (37.1%), tops in the Horizon League in both statistics
• Davis was in double figures for the 101st straight game and is just one game shy of Keydren Clark (St. Peters, 2003-06) for fifth all-time in NCAA history in consecutive games in double figures and just 14 behind the NCAA record, held by La Salle's Lionel Simmons (1986-90) and Campbell's Chris Clemons at 115 (2015-19)
• Davis now has 2,482 career points, third in Horizon League history and 214 behind Byron Larkin (Xavier, 1984-88) for second place
• Davis now has 392 career triples to move to 24th all-time in NCAA history and just one behind Joe Zeglinski (Hartford, 2001-11) and four shy of Francis Alonso (UNC Greensboro, 2015-19) to inch closer to the top 20
• Davis now has 441 career assists, 10 away from Ray McCallum and seventh place in school history
• McAdoo was in double figures for the third time in the last four games and for the seventh time this season
• Harvey was in double figures for the fourth-straight game and is averaging  15.2 points in that span after tallying 4.8 points in his first 12 games
• Akec's career-high in steals id five at Louisville earlier this year
• LeGreair tied his season-high in assists with the five he had against Michigan-Dearborn