ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (2/17/2023) -- Five Titans scored in double figures and Detroit Mercy got off to a fast start and then ramped it on midway through the game as the men's basketball team routed Oakland, 96-74, on Friday night at the O'Rena.

Graduate senior Antoine Davis led the way with 30 points, hitting 11-of-17 from the field and 7-of-13 from three, along with tallying four rebounds, two assists and a steal. He tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a season with 136 and extended his NCAA record for triples to 565. He now has 3,512 career points, 155 shy of Pete Maravich's NCAA record 3,667. 

Davis also passed Archie Tullos (1987-88 - 752) and Spencer Haywood (1968-69 - 771) to move into third place in school history with 778 points on the year, just six shy of his career-high and second-place number of 784 he had as a freshman and seven in back of Rashad Phillips' school-record of 785 he had in 2000-01.

Graduate senior A.J. Oliver posted a career-high 25 points going 9-of-15 from the field with four rebounds and two assists. Senior Gerald Liddell scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high and career-tying 18 rebounds with five assists, a block and a steal and graduate senior TJ Moss recorded 11 points, six assists and four boards

Detroit Mercy (12-16, 8-9 HL) shot a season-best 58.3% (35-of-60) and was 13-of-26 from behind the arc and 13-of-16 (81.3%) at the free-throw line. The Titans also outrebounded Oakland (12-17, 10-8 HL) with a season-best +18 effort, 38-20, and held the Golden Grizzlies to 5-of-23 (21.7%) from three. 

The Titans got off to a hot start hitting 7 of their first 11 shots, with four of those from behind the arc. Moss and graduate senior Damezi Anderson started it with layups and then Anderson nailed a three for a 7-4 lead. After an Oakland three, Davis knocked one in from distance, and Anderson followed with back-to-back triples before a dunk by Oliver had the Titans ahead, 18-7, at the 14:43 mark. 

Oakland scored nine in a row to cut into that lead when Davis scored two-straight buckets to make it 22-16 with 11:32 left. The game would be knotted at 24-all when Oliver went to the rim for a layup and that was followed by a trey from Moss for a 29-24 advantage. 

Later on, the Titans went on an 11-0 run started by a steal from Moss that led to a three by Davis and the Titans were up 39-32 with 4:15 remaining in the half. Davis made two more from three and graduate senior Arashma Parks got inside for a layup and a 47-32 advantage as the red, white and blue were up 47-34 at the break. 

The run continued in the second with five straight points as Liddell had a layup and another trifecta from Davis had the team up 52-34. The Titans' lead would swell to 26, 71-45, as Liddell connected on a jumper and Davis drilled in another three with 13:23 remaining. After Davis split a pair at the line, Liddell got inside again for a score and Oliver sank a three with 9:54 left.

The Titans would lead by double digits the rest of the game, but Oakland did trim the deficit to 13, 87-74, with under three minutes to go. Oliver and Moss then hit four-straight free throws and freshman Marcus Tankersley drove to the rim for a score to up the margin to 19, 93-74, at the 1:53 mark and Oliver put the finishing touches on his day with a layup and was fouled, hitting the free throw for the old fashioned three-point play and the 22-point victory.

Anderson ended with 13 points, while Parks had three rebounds.

The Titans will now open a three-game homestand on Sunday as the red, white and blue host IUPUI in a 1:00 p.m. tip. 

Game Notes:

• This was the 34th meeting between the two schools, located about 26 miles apart, as Oakland leads the series, 18-15, with a 9-3 advantage at home
• The last three Titan wins in the series have all come at the O'Rena
• The 22-point win was the biggest by the Titans in the series since Oakland moved to Division I, overtaking the 77-56 in 2000, and the biggest win since a 110-61 score in 1998
• Detroit Mercy has shot over 50.0% in eight games this season and the 58.3% was the highest since shooting 66.0% (31-of-47) against Green Bay in 2001
• The 35 field goals are tied for a season-high with the 35 the Titans had against Purdue Fort Wayne two weeks ago
• Detroit Mercy has outrebounded its opponents in 15 of the last 20 games and 19 times on the season 
• The +18 rebounding margin was the most since the +33 effort (53-20) at Youngstown State in 2016
• Detroit Mercy has now connected on double-digit 3-pointers in 17 games and is first in the Horizon League and ninth in the nation at 39.1% from three, as well as first in the HL and sixth in the country with 10.4 per game
• It was career win #409 for Mike Davis, tied for 142nd in NCAA history with Howard Cann and Danny Nee for 142nd place
• Davis came into the game tallying 21.4 points, 5.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 10 career games against Oakland, shooting 36.3% overall (65-of-179), 32.7% (35-of-107) from three and 92.5% (49-of-53) at the line, with the 21.4 points the lowest average against any HL team in his career
• Davis currently leads the nation in scoring (27.8 ppg.), total points (778), total 3-pointers (136), 3-pointers per game (4.88) and total field goals (256)
• Davis tied Rashad Phillips (2000-2001) for the most 3-pointers in a season in school history with 136 and surpassed his career-high of 132 he had as a freshman in 2018-19
• Davis now has 100 career 20-point games, 37 career 30-point outings and eight 40-point contests in 139 games - reaching 17 points in 121 of them
• Davis now has a league-best 23, 20-point games, 11, 30-point outings and four 40-point outbursts, and has scored 30 or more in five-straight games, the longest streak 30-point streak in his career
• Davis comes into the game third all-time in NCAA history with 4.04, three-point field goals per game and leading the nation this year at 4.78 per contest
• Davis has made a three in 134 of his 139 collegiate games, with 77 career games with four or more triples, 32 with six or more, 17 games with seven or more, and has five times connected on 10 or more 
• Davis is now third in Titan history with 570 assists, 41 behind second-place Wilbert McCormick (1977-80 - 611) and 45 in back of school-record holder Kevin McAdoo's (1983-86) 615
• Liddell now has eight double-doubles on the season and was the first since recording 19 points and 11 rebounds against Green Bay on Dec. 28
• Liddell also had 18 rebounds at Charlotte and had a career-high five assists against Purdue Fort Wayne two weeks ago
• Liddell has blocked at least one shot in 11 games
• Anderson has now scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games and 16 on the year
• Anderson notched a career-high 22 points on a career-best 10-of-17 shooting with six boards and two helpers against Oakland at home in the first meeting
• Moss has now handed out at least three assists 15 times on the season 
• Moss was in double figures for the fourth time this season and the first since netting 11 at IUPUI
• Moss is now averaging 4.4 assists in the last nine games, with five games of four or more helpers
• Oliver's previous career-high was 21 as a member of ODU against Florida Atlantic in 2020
• Oliver has now scored in double figures nine times this season
• Oliver is now averaging 12.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, shooting 53.7% from the field (42-of-87), 39.1% from three (18-of-46) and 95.8% at the line (23-of-24) and that was after tallying 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in his first 14 games, shooting 43.5% overall (27-of-62) and 29.7% from three (11-of-37)

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