DETROIT (11/29/2023) -- Senior Jayden Stone flirted with a triple-double, but a second-half struggle on offense was the difference as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped its Horizon League opener to rival Oakland, 65-50, at home on Wednesday night.

Stone posted a game-high 18 points, nine rebounds, and career-tying six assists. Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia had 10 points, six boards and two blocks and sophomore Marcus Tankersley tallied 10 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists. 

The Titans (0-7, 0-1 HL) led by six points in the first half, but Oakland (5-3, 1-0 HL) went on a 17-4 run between the end of the first half and into the second half to take a double-digit lead and Detroit Mercy could not recover.

The back-and-forth first half saw eight lead changes and four ties in the first 20 minutes of action. The Titans took their largest lead of the game at 16-10 on 7-0 run. A dunk by sophomore Tyree Davis followed by a layup from Del Cadia gave the Titans a 13-10 lead, and then Stone followed that with a three for the six-point advantage with 10:35 left.

Davis got inside for another score and the Titans were in front 20-17 at the 6:38 mark. Detroit Mercy would later lead by three again at 27-24 as Tankersley knocked in a three with 3:07 remaining, but Oakland scored the last four points in the stanza and took a 28-27 lead at the break.

The Golden Grizzlies started the second half with five-straight points for a 33-27 score until Davis ended that with a bucket. Del Cadia would hit a jumper to get the squad within six, 37-31, with 15:04 on the clock, but Oakland pushed the lead to 10, 41-31. Stone would split a pair of free throws to make it 41-32, but a 10-0 spurt ended all chances of a comeback.

Davis finished with a season-best eight points, four rebounds and two blocks. Redshirt freshman Abdullah Olajuwon had two points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks and junior Mak Manciel registered a season-best four steals and four boards. 

The Titans recorded a season-high 11 steals and six blocks. 

Detroit Mercy will be back in action on Saturday as the red, white and blue head to Cleveland State, with game time set for 3:00 p.m. 

Game Notes:

• This is the 45th year of the Horizon League (1979-80) and the 44th with Detroit Mercy as a member as the Titans are the eldest program in the league
• This was the 35th meeting between the two schools, located about 26 miles apart, as Oakland now leads the all-time match-up 19-15, but the Titans still have the edge at home 12-10
• The Titans are now 18-26 all-time in Horizon League openers and 24-20 all-time in Horizon League home openers
• The 11 steals were the most since posting 13 at home against IUPUI last season
• The six blocks were the most since having seven against IUPUI in that same game
• The Titans have not hit double-digit 3-pointers in eight straight games dating back to last season, the longest streak since going eight straight at one point during the 2016-17 campaign
• Stone came into the game 17th in the nation in scoring at 21.7 points per game, second in the league, and 38th in the nation with 3.00 3-pointers per contest
• Stone has now played in 20 career games with the Titans and has netted 20 or more nine times, been in double figures 15 times, and has grabbed five or more rebounds on 14 occasions, including all seven games this year
• Stone also had six assists against Bryant last season
• Davis was just 2-for-4 shooting on the year, but made 4-of-5 today
• He also had just four total rebounds entering the game
• Del Cadia has now scored in double figures in four games and has grabbed at least five rebounds in six of the seven games 
• Dating back to last season, Tankersley has now scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games

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