DETROIT (3/1/2022) -- Senior Antoine Davis scored a game-high 38 and the Titans opened the game with 10-straight points and never looked back as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team advanced to the Keeps Horizon League Championship Quarterfinals with a 79-62 victory over Green Bay on Tuesday evening.

The win moved the sixth-seeded Titans into a match-up with third-seeded NKU on Thursday evening. Detroit Mercy swept the Norse on the season, but NKU has eliminated the Titans in the postseason in 2021 and 2019.

Davis was 15-of-24 from the field and 6-of-10 from three with five rebounds as he had eight of the Titans' first 10 points and 22 in the first half alone. Graduate senior Kevin McAdoo ended with 14 points and graduate senior DJ Harvey had 10 points and a team-high seven boards.

The Titans (14-14, 10-7 HL) were ready from the start holding 11th-seeded Green Bay (5-25, 4-16 HL) to 0-of-3 shooting with five turnovers in the first five minutes as Davis hit a pair of 3-pointers and added another jumper for a 10-0 lead. Green Bay got within three at one point, 21-18, but the Titans never let the Phoenix get any closer as the Titans reeled off nine straight for a 30-18 advantage with 6:30 left. McAdoo had the lead as big as 14 in the first half as his trey made it 43-29 and the red, white and blue went into the break ahead, 43-31.

The Titans put the game away early in the second half as they outscored the Phoenix, 12-2, with Davis netting 10 of those points, including the final six for a 53-33 lead just three minutes in. 

Green Bay had one final 14-2 spurt that cut the lead to just eight, 61-53, with 8:57 left, but eight-straight points by the titans put all hopes of a comeback away. McAdoo nailed a three, Davis added a jumper and junior Noah Waterman hit from distance for a 69-53 advantage with 6:20 on the clock and the Titans would never let the lead sip under 14 the rest of the way.

Waterman finished with seven points and junior Madut Akec returned from an injury and pulled down six rebounds. 

The Titans shot 54.4% hitting 31-of-57 from the field and were 9-of-19 from three and a perfect 8-of-8 at the line. Detroit Mercy also forced 14 turnovers and recorded 20 points off those miscues.

The Keeps Horizon League Championship Quarterfinals at NKU will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. with the winner earning a trip to Indianapolis for the semifinals next Monday. 

First Half:

• The Titans held Green Bay to 0-of-3 shooting with five turnovers as they opened a 10-0 lead
• Davis had eight of those points on a couple of triples and a bucket, while Isiani hit two free throws
• McAdoo drove to the rim for a 12-2 lead with 14:40 left
• Graduate Buay Koka got inside for a layup and a 16-6 advantage with 12:50 on the clock
• Green Bay scored eight-straight, but Sylla went inside for a score and the Titans were in front, 18-14, with 11 min to go
• Davis added two more triples and had 16 points in the first 11 minutes and the Titans led 24-18 at the 9:02 mark
• A steal and layup from Harvey and then back-to-back baskets by McAdoo and the Titans stretched their lead to 30-18 with 6:30 remaining
• Davis nailed another tey for a 35-22 lead with 4:24 on the clock
• Harvey went inside for two and another triple from Davis and the red, white and blue led 40-27 with 2:01 left
• McAdoo extended that to 43-29 with one from distance with just under a minute to play and took a 43-31 lead at the break

Second Half:

• The Titans opened the second half on a 12-2 run
• Koka started the scoring with a layup and then Davis had back-to-back baskets to push the lead to 49-31
• Davis then scored six-straight for a 55-33 lead with 17 minutes left
• Waterman raced to the rim for a layup and a jumper from Harvey made it 59-39 with 14:01 on the clock
• Green Bay went on an 11-0 run and 14-2 spurt over five minutes to trim the lead to 61-53 with 8:45 remaining
• The Titans responded with eight-straight points as McAdoo ended that Phoenix run with a 3-pointer and then Davis followed with a basket and Waterman connected from downtown for a 69-53 lead with 6:22 left
• The Titans never let the lead fall under double digits the rest of the way

Game Notes:

• Green Bay leads the all-time series, 35-29, but the Titans are now 17-13 all-time against the Phoenix at home
• It is the second-straight year the Titans have hosted a conference tournament game as last season as the fifth seed, they beat 12th-seeded Robert Morris, 83-73
• Detroit Mercy is now a perfect 8-0 at home when it has hosted a conference tournament game in its history
• Detroit Mercy is now 37-37 all-time in the HL postseason with eight trips to the title game (1988, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2012) and three championships (1994, 1999, 2012)
• Detroit Mercy is 5-4 all-time as the sixth seed, reaching the finals in 1987
• with another high-scoring guard leading the way in Archie Tullos
• The Titans' 31 field goals are tied for the second-most on the season with the 31 against Western Michigan and only behind the 34 they had against Michigan-Dearborn, while it was the sixth time this season, and the third in the past four games, that they have shot over 50.0% from the field
• Davis came into the game averaging 25.4 points, 4.6 assists and 2.7 rebounds in seven career games against Green Bay, while shooting 43.5% (64-of-147) overall and 35.6% (26-of-73) from distance and tallied 20 or more points in six of the seven games with a 30-point and 26-point performance last season (20-of-35 FG, 12-of-20 3FG) and a pair of 29-point games with one as a freshman and one as a sophomore
• The Titans have held 15 foes under 70 points this year, including five under 60 points with four of those in HL play
• Detroit Mercy came into the contest second in the HL and 97th in the nation with 11.9 turnovers per game
• Davis now has 76 career 20-point games, 26 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests, and now has 17, 20-point games, second in the HL, and a conference-best six 30-point contests
• Davis was in double figures for the 109th straight game with 26 points against Purdue Fort Wayne and is now in sole possession fourth in NCAA history in that category, just three in back of Danny Ainge (BYU, 1971-88) for third
• Davis now has 2,693 points, passing the like of Oklahoma's Waymen Tisdale (1981-85) and Navy's David Robinson (1983-87) to move to 26th in NCAA history, three in back of Xavier's Byron Larkin for 25th place overall and second place in Horizon League history
• Davis comes into the game fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.88, three-point field goals per game and has now connected on a 3-pointer in 43-straight games and 105 of his 109 collegiate games with 60 career games with four or more triples, 22 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
• His 109 triples on the season are third in the school record book behind only the 132 he had as a freshman and the school record of 136 by Rashad Phillips in 2000-01
• Harvey has eight double-figure games in his last 13 contests
• McAdoo now has five double-figure games in his last 12, while the 14 points are the most he has had since netting 15 at NKU
• Akec returned to action for the first time in seven games following an undisclosed leg injury