DAYTON, Ohio (1/6/2023) -- Four Titans scored in double figures, but a late run by Wright State was the story as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell, 90-85, in a thriller on ESPN2 on Friday night.
Graduate senior
Antoine Davis scored 27 points and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line as he broke the school record for most free throws in his career with 542, passing Rashad Phillips' 541. He also upped his career point total to 3,130.Â
Junior
Jayden Stone tied his career high with 24 points, hitting a career-best 10-of-19 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds. Graduate senior
TJ Moss scored a season-high 15 points with six rebounds and two assists and graduate senior
Damezi Anderson recorded 12 points and eight boards.
Detroit Mercy (6-10, 2-3 HL) got off to a fast start and led 19-8 seven minutes in. Stone was the catalyst as his triple followed by a dunk had the team up 10-5. After a WSU three, the Titans scored nine in a row as Stone got that going with layup and graduate senior
Arashma Parks got into the scoring column with an offensive rebound and putback. Davis would nail a jumper and then he found Anderson, who hit a 3-pointer for the 11-point lead.
Anderson would also give the team a 10-point advantage with a basket to make it 21-11 at the 12:42 mark, but Wright State (9-7, 2-3 HL) would start chipping away and eventually took a 32-29 lead with just 5:29 to go in the first half.
The Titans found themselves down, 39-36, with 3:02 left when they ended the half on a 12-2 spurt. Davis began that charge with his first trifecta and a turnaround jumper for a 41-39 lead. After a WSU free throw, Davis had another basket and Moss hit two free throws before a big defensive stand led to graduate senior
A.J. Oliver beating the buzzer for a 48-40 advantage at the break.
In the second half, the Titans once again stretched their lead to double figures as Moss connected on a three, and off an Oliver steal, he went to the rim for a layup and a 55-42 score at 16:11. A steal by junior
Kyle LeGreair would lead to Moss hitting a jumper for a 57-42 advantage and a 21-3 run. The Titans led by 15 at 60-45 as Stone buried a three and also two other times, the latest at 71-56 as Davis drove to the hoop for a bucket at the 9:42 mark.
Wright State would go on a 19-2 run over the next five minutes to jump out in front, but Davis knotted it at 75-75 with 4:16 left. Davis would put the red, white and blue back on top, 79-78, as he drilled a three and was fouled, hitting the free throw for the four-point play with 3:46 to go. The Titans would have one more lead, 81-80, as Davis knocked in both of his free throws with 3:01 left, but from there, the Raiders scored eight-straight points to seize the contest.
Parks ended the game with four points and eight rebounds and Oliver finished with three points, four boards, two assists, a block and a steal.Â
The Titans shot 44.6% with nine 3-pointers and committed just eight turnovers.Â
Detroit Mercy will now get ready for a match-up with NKU on Sunday, with tip-off set for 2:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
- Wright State has won 11 of the last 13 and 18 of the last 23, and now lead the all-time series, 38-28, including 21-9 at home, with the last Titan win in 2013
- The Titans played without senior Gerald Liddell, who missed the game with an undisclosed injuryÂ
- Detroit Mercy came into the game third in the Horizon League and 47th in the nation at 37.4% from three, as well as second in the HL and 10th in the country with 10.1 per game
- Davis now has 90 career 20-point games, 29 career 30-point outings and four 40-point contests in 127 games as he extended his NCAA record with consecutive games in double figures to 127 in a row
- Davis now has 3,130 career points, 20 behind Doug McDermott (Creighton, 2010-14 - 3,150) for sixth and 537 away from Pete Maravich's NCAA record 3,667
- Davis has made a three in 122 of his 127 collegiate games and is currently third in NCAA history in 3-pointers at 494, 10 away from Oakland's Travis Bader for second and 15 away from Fletcher Magee's NCAA-record 509
- Davis has made 19 in a row and 37 of his last 39 at the free-throw line as he owns the school record at 88.8% (542-of-610), ninth among active players and tied for 22nd all-time in NCAA history
- Davis moved into 18th in NCAA history with 1,047 career field goals, passing Reggie Lewis (Northeastern, 1983-87 - 1,043) and just five behindÂ
- Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati, 1956-60 - 1,052) for 17th place
- Davis now has 155 career steals, passing John Long and Terry Tyler (1975-78 - 154) and now 20 behind Ray McCallum (2010-13 - 175) for fifth
- Stone now has four 20-point games on the season and matched his career high with the 24 he had against Bryant
- Stone's eight rebounds were the second most on the season behind the 12 he had in the opener against Rochester
- Parks' career-high in rebounds is 11 he had at Florida Atlantic
- Anderson has scored in double figures in eight games on the year and also has 10 games with four or more rebounds, with a career-high nine against Rochester and at Cleveland State
- Moss has scored in double figures in two-straight games and his career high is 17 at TCU in 2021 as a member of South Carolina
- Moss now has five games with five or more rebounds
- Moss is tallying 7.4 points, 3.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds in his last five games after posting 4.1 points, 1.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds in his first 11
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