HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (3/3/2022) -- For the third-straight postseason, the Titans' run for a Horizon League Championship came to an end at NKU as the 11th-seeded University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped a 77-59 contest to the third-seeded Norse on Thursday.

Graduate senior Kevin McAdoo led the way with a team-high 19 points, while senior Antoine Davis netted 17 to move to second in Horizon League history and 23rd in NCAA history with 2,710 career points. 

Detroit Mercy (14-15, 10-7 HL) and NKU (19-11, 14-6 HL) got off to a hot start shooting the ball as both teas nailed a pair of 3-pointers, but after that, a defensive game broke out with the Titans cold shooting from the floor.

A 7-0 run by the Titans had the team up 13-11 as Davis hit a jumper and junior Madut Akec followed with a layup off a great pass from Davis and then senior Willy Isiani connected on a three seven minutes in.

NKU was able to keep the Titans off the scoreboard for the next seven minutes as the Norse built a lead and took a 31-21 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the Titans cut it to single digits a couple of times as McAdoo hit from three to make it 38-30 and junior Noah Waterman grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in to pull the team within seven, 40-33, with 13:52 left. That is when NKU opened a double-digit lead for good with a 13-2 run.

Graduate senior DJ Harvey ended with five points and six rebounds, while senior Matt Johnson had eight points and five boards. 

Detroit Mercy shot 35.7% (20-of-56) and was 12-of-14 at the line, but was an uncharacteristic 7-of-28 from behind the arc. 

The Titans will now wait to see if they are invited to a postseason tournament. 

First Half:

• Both teams traded 3-pointers for a 6-6 game just two minutes in
• An 8-0 NKU run has the Norse up 11-6 at the 16:30 mark
• Detroit Mercy responded with seven-straight points as Davis hit a jumper, then fed Akec inside for a layup before Isiani put the team in front, 13-11, with a three with 13:16 left
• NKU then held the Titans scoreless for seven minutes to jump out in front, 19-13, just under the eight-minute mark
• McAdoo drove to the rim for a basket to make it 23-17 at the 3:15 mark
• Two free throws from Davis had the Titans trailing 29-21 with 30 seconds remaining, but NKU was able to get a score and take a 31-21 lead at the break

Second Half:

• Johnson and Harvey went inside for scores, but NKU led 35-25 with 15:47 left
• A three from McAdoo cut it to 38-30 with 15 minutes to go
• Waterman hit a free throw and then crashed the boards for an offensive rebound and putback and the Titans were down by just seven, 40-33, with  13:52 left
• A 13-2 run by NKU had the Titans down 53-35 with 8:37 to go
• Davis ended that by getting to the rim for a layup with 8:08 left
• Davis then nailed one from three to make it 55-40 with 7:26 to go
• McAdoo drove to the rim for a layup and was fouled and his free throw on the three-point play had the team down 59-46 with 5:41 left
• Davis hit a jumper for a 62-49 game at the 5:14 mark, but that was as close as the red, white and blue would get

Game Notes:

• The Titans swept the season series for the first time this year, but the Norse now leads the all-time series, 11-4, including 7-2 all-time at BB&T Arena and 3-0 in the playoffs
• Detroit Mercy had only beat a team three times in a season 11 times in its history 
• Detroit Mercy committed just nine turnovers as the Titans came into the game second in the HL and 95th in the nation with 11.8 turnovers per game. 
• The Titans were 1-8 on the year when they hit eight or fewer 3-pointers in a game as they came into the contest seventh in Division I in 3-point field goals per game (10.6) and 29th in three-point field-goal percentage (37.8%), tops in the HL in both
• Davis was in double figures for the 110th straight game with 17 against NKU and is now fourth in NCAA history in that category, just two in back of Danny Ainge (BYU, 1971-88) for third and trailing the all-time leaders of Chris Clemons (Campbell, 2015-2019) and Lionel Simmons (La Salle, 1987-90) at 115
• Davis now has 2,710 career points, moving past Xavier's Byron Larkin (1984-88) for second in Horizon League history and trailing only Loyola's Alfredrick Hughes (1981-85) by 204 for the all-time lead (2,914)
• Davis also moved past the likes of Reggie Lewis (Northeastern, 1983-87) and Daren Queenan (Lehigh, 1984-88) for 23rd in NCAA history with 2,710 career points
• Davis comes into the game fifth all-time in NCAA history with 3.89, three-point field goals per game and has now connected on a 3-pointer in 44-straight games and 106 of his 110 collegiate games
• Davis' 426 career triples are 13th in NCAA history 
• Davis now has 906 career field goals, second in school history behind John Long's (1975-78) 940
• McAdoo now has six double-figure games in his last 13, while his season and career-high was 23 at Toledo earlier in the year