DETROIT (11/10/2024) -- Senior Mak Manciel tallied a career-high 30 points and junior Jared Lary sent the game to overtime with a driving layup as the Titans knocked off Niagara, 84-78, on Sunday afternoon.

The Titans (2-1) trailed the game by double digits in the first half and by seven late in the second, but they hung in there and eventually won the contest.

Manciel also had a career-best eight boards, three assists, and a steal, while shooting 9-of-15 overall, 6-of-7 from three, and 6-of-8 at the free-throw line.

Junior Legend Geeter had a career-high 14 points, going 8-of-8 at the line. Graduate senior Emmanuel Kuac had 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal, and junior Jared Lary netted 11 points with six rebounds, two steals, and an assist.

The Titans - who trailed by 12 at one point in the game - were down 70-63 with 3:45 left, when Geeter made two free throws and then got inside for a score. Niagara (1-2) answered and had a 72-67 lead with 2:11 remaining, but Manciel drilled a three after a timeout to make it a one-possession game. After both teams turned it over, Niagara missed a three and Manciel pulled down the board with just 38 seconds in regulation.

UDM called a timeout and set up a play that saw Lary come around and get to the rim for a layup to knot it at 72-72. The Titan defense then forced a shot clock violation and with just two seconds left, UDM could not get a shot off for the game to go into the extra session.

In overtime, Manciel started the scoring with a jumper and Geeter added two free throws for a 76-72 lead. Geeter got inside for another score, and Manciel connected on two at the line for an 80-75 advantage with 33 ticks on the scoreboard.

The defense forced Niagara to miss its last three shots, and Manciel and Lary put the game away by hitting four free throws down the stretch.

Freshman Nate Johnson ended with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal, and junior Orlando Lovejoy posted six points, six rebounds, and a team-high five assists.

The Titans finished the game shooting 45.8% from the field with nine triples and were 21-of-29 (72.4%) at the charity stripe. Detroit Mercy dominated the glass, 49-28, and came away with six steals.

Niagara led by 12 early on, 19-7, thanks partly to the Titans starting the game just 3-of-19 from the field. The Purple Eagles would lead by 10, 27-17, when a dunk by Kuac and a three from Johnson quickly trimmed the deficit to five, 27-22, with under four minutes left. Manciel hit a trifecta and made two free throws to end with 12 in the first half, and two free throws by Kuac at the end of the stanza had the red, white and blue down just 34-29 at the break.

Manciel started with back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half to give the Titans the lead. The Purple Eagles jumped back in front and led by seven, 46-39, just five minutes in. Niagara was on top 50-46 when UDM went on a 10-0 run to reclaim the margin. Geeter had four free throws and Lary had a basket. Lary then had a steal and fed Johnson for a dunk, and another steal from him led to a layup from Kuac and a 56-50 lead with 10:01 to play.

UDM would have a five-point lead at 60-55, but Niagara countered with 10 straight points to surge ahead with five minutes on the clock and led by seven, 70-63, with 3:45 to go.

Detroit Mercy will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 16, as the Titans host a basketball doubleheader with the women taking on Bellarmine at 1:00 p.m., followed by the men's game against Toledo at 4:00 p.m.

Game Notes:

• The Titans now lead the all-time series, 5-3
• Detroit Mercy has handled teams from the state of New York in its history, owning a 72-48 record all-time against New York programs
• The last time the Titans played an overtime game was the double overtime contest at Robert Morris last year, while the last win in overtime was in 2017, 116-109, against Houston Baptist (now called Houston Christian)
• The last time the Titans dominated the glass by 20 or more was a 53-20 advantage at home over Youngstown State in 2016
• Detroit Mercy now has 142 rebounds in three games, an average of 47.3 per contest, which includes 52 offensive rebounds that have led to 54 second-chance points to start the year
• UDM's 21-of-29 effort at the line was the most makes and attempts since going 24-of-33 in the win over IUPUI last year
• The last Titan to have 30 points was Jayden Stone, who had 30 in the Horizon League Championship first-round game at Milwaukee last season
• Manciel has now reached double digits 10 times in his last 18 games since last season
• Manciel's previous high in points was 20, connecting on 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from three at Wright State last season
• Manciel's previous high in rebounds was six, which he accomplished twice last year
• Geeter's previous best was 13 points done three times while at Eastern Michigan
• Geeter's previous high in free throws was five at Akron last year
• Kuac was in double figures for the fourth time in his career and the third as a Titan, following his career-best 27 at Milwaukee and 12 at Oakland
• Lovejoy now has six games in his career with at least five assists and 10 games with at least five rebounds

 
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