FORT MYERS, Fla. (3/16/2022) -- Senior Antoine Davis scored a team-high 24 points and graduate senior DJ Harvey tallied his third double-double of the season, but a late run by Florida Gulf Coast was too much to overcome as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell, 95-79, in the first round of The Basketball Classic on Wednesday.

Davis also had three rebounds and three assists as he ended the year with 694 points, ninth in the school record book for a single season as he already had two of the top six spots. He also ended the season with 113 triples, third in the Titan record book and the second most for his career behind the 132 he had as a freshman. He also has 429 career triples for 13th in NCAA history, while his 2,734 career points are 21st. 

Harvey posted 15 points and 11 rebounds, one shy of his career-high. Graduate senior Kevin McAdoo scored 18 points with two assists and junior Madut Akec netted 17 points with nine boards. 

Detroit Mercy (14-16, 10-7 HL) - which played just 10 home games all season - saw Florida Gulf Coast (22-11, 10-6 ASUN) take a 13-point lead in the first half, 37-24. The Titans answered with 12 in a row to trim it to 37-36 and would later take a 48-47 lead as McAdoo went inside for a bucket and Akec nailed a three.

In the second half, FGCU started with eight-straight points and would eventually take a 10-point lead at 64-54 with just under 13 minutes left. The Titans fought back to pull within four as a Davis three and layup had the team down 72-67 with 8:47 left and that was followed by an offensive rebound by Harvey and that led to a 3-pointer from Akec to make it 76-72 with 6:34 on the clock.

That was as close as the Titans would get as the Eagles went on a 12-1 run over the next three minutes to pull away. 

The Titans shot 47.0% (31-of-66) with 10, 3-pointers in the contest.

The game was the 14th postseason appearance by the Titans and the first since their NIT bid in 2013. In its history, Detroit Mercy had played in seven NIT's (1960, 1961, 1965, 1978, 2001, 2002, 2013) and six NCAA (1962, 1977, 1979, 1998, 1999, 2012) tournaments.

First Half:

• Akec went inside for a layup and then Davis nailed a three to tie it at 5-5 early
• McAdoo went inside for a layup to get the Titans within one, 8-7, with 16:33 left
• FGCU took a 19-11 lead when Davis hit from distance with 12:46 remaining
• The Eagles took a 10-point lead twice, but McAdoo and Akec were able to get inside for layups
• A three by McAdoo made is a six-point deficit, 28-22, at the 9:43 mark
• The Titans saw the Eagles go up by 13, 37-24, but the red, white and blue scored 12 in a row to get within one, as they hit six straight shots
• It started with Davis driving to the rim, a McAdoo steal and layup followed by a triple to cut it to 37-31 with 6:54 on the clock
• Davis went to the rim again for a score and was fouled and hit the free throw and after that, Johnson attacked the rim for a bucket and it was 37-36 with sin minutes to go
• Detroit Mercy would get to within one again as a three by Akec made it 44-43 with 3:29 left
• A triple by McAdoo and then a layup from Akec had the Titans in front 48-47 with 2:07 left, but the Eagles took a 49-48 lead at the break

Second Half:

• Davis ended an 8-0 run with a jumper and Harvey followed with an offensive rebound and putback to pull within dive, 57-52, with 15:03 left
• Johnson got inside for a score to trim the deficit to 64-54 with 12:39 remaining
• Harvey buried a three to bring it within single digits, 66-57, with 11:56 left
• Harvey would hit another to trim the Eagles lead to 68-60 with 11:01 to go
• A three by Davis and then a layup got the Titans even closer at 72-67 with 8:47 left
• Harvey had an offensive rebound and that led to a triple from Akec to make it 76-72 with 6:34 on the clock
• FGCU would go on a 12-1 run over the next three minutes to take control of the game

Game Notes:

• This was the first career meeting between the two schools
• The Titans played the game without starters Willy Isiani and Noah Waterman who were out with undisclosed injuries 
• Detroit Mercy is now 8-15 all-time in the postseason with a 3-6 record in the NCAA Tournament, 5-8 mark in the NIT and this first game of the Basketball Classic
• 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 and 20 of their 30 total games on the road this season
• Detroit Mercy committed just nine turnovers it came into the game second in the HL and 94th in the nation with just 11.7 turnovers per game 
• The Titans have connected on at least 10, 3-pointers 17 times this season as they came into the game seventh in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (10.4) and 28th in three-point field-goal percentage (37.3%), tops in the HL in both.
• Davis came into the game third in the nation in scoring at 23.9 ppg
• Davis now has 77 career 20-point games, 26 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 111 collegiate games and has also scored in double figures in all 111 games - reaching at least 17 points in 92 of them
• Davis is fourth in NCAA history in consecutive double figures games, one in back of Danny Ainge (BYU, 1971-88) for third and just four off the all-time NCAA mark
• Davis now has 2,734 career points, second in HL history and 180 behind Alfredrick Hughes of Loyola for the top spot
• Davis comes into the game fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.87, three-point field goals per game and has now connected on a 3-pointer in 45-straight games and 107 of his 111 collegiate games 
• Davis was also named to the HL All-Academic Team and became the first Titan to ever be selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District® Team as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-American.
• Harvey now has three double-doubles on the season
• Harvey's season-high in rebounds was 12 against Michigan Dearborn and Central Michigan
• Akec's 17 points were the most since he netted a career-high 25 against Central Michigan nine rebounds were the most since he had a career-best 15 at Purdue Fort Wayne
• McAdoo was in double figures for the seventh time in his last 14 games as well as the third-straight contest