JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (11/26/2024) -- Junior
Orlando Lovejoy tallied a career-high 28 points, and the Titans cut a 14-point first-half deficit into a tie game in the second, but couldn't pull off the upset as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball fell, 81-75, to Rhode Island in the final game of the Jacksonville Classic on Wednesday afternoon.
The Titans (3-5) trailed 35-21 in the first half and 53-40 in the second, but the red, white, and blue went on a 20-7 run to knot it at 60-60 with under nine minutes left.
Lovejoy was 10-of-20 from the field and 8-of-8 at the free-throw line to go with a team-high seven assists, four rebounds and two steals. Junior
Legend Geeter added 11 points, a season-high six rebounds, and a career-best four steals, and junior
Jared Lary posted 10 points, tied his season-high with six rebounds, along with an assist and a block.
Early on, a layup by freshman
Miles Mitchell had the team down 8-6, but Rhode Island (6-0) countered with seven-straight points and eventually opened a double-digit lead at 18-7. The Rams, who nailed five triples in the first 10 minutes of action, would extend their lead to as many as 14, 35-21, but a layup by Mitchell followed by a driving layup from Lovejoy cut it to 10 at the 4:31 mark.
An offensive rebound and putback by Geeter briefly pulled the team within single digits, but Rhode Island took a 46-34 lead into the break.
Back-to-back baskets by Lovejoy trimmed the deficit to eight, 46-38, but the Rams stopped any more bleeding and pushed the advantage back to 13, 53-40, with 14:04 left.
That is when the Titans started chipping away. Mitchell had an offensive rebound and tip-in, which was followed by a steal from Geeter and led to another inside score from Mitchell. After a Rams' free throw, Lovejoy knocked down a shot, and freshman
Nate Johnson got to the rim for a dunk, and it was 54-48 with 11:56 to go.
The score was chopped down even more as a Lovejoy nailed four straight free throws, and off a steal from Geeter, he finished it on the offensive end to make it a one-possession game at 57-54 with just over 10 minutes on the clock.
Just a minute later, the game was tied as freshman
Ryan Kalambay scored in the paint, and a steal by Lovejoy had the Titans on the run and graduate senior
Emmanuel Kuac slammed it down for a 60-60 contest with 8:57 to play.
Rhode Island would recover and take as much as a seven-point lead, but back came the Titans as two free throws by Lovejoy and a jumper from Lary pulled the Titans within three, 75-72, with 37 seconds remaining and UDM also trailed 79-75 with 14 seconds on the clock after a Geeter three, but that was as close as they would get.
Kuac finished with seven points, while Mitchell had eight points and four rebounds.
UDM shot 45.5% from the field (30-of-66), including 53.1% in the second half (17-of-32) and 76.5% at the line (13-of-17). The Titans committed a season-low eight turnovers and came away with a season-tying nine steals.
Detroit Mercy will have a quick turnaround for its next game as the red, white and blue travel to Eastern Michigan on Saturday, with game time set for 7:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
- Rhode Island now leads the all-time series, 4-3
- Detroit Mercy is now 154-164 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10
- Detroit Mercy was outrebounded for the first time all year, 39-37, as the Titans came into the game tallying 44.9 per game, 11th in the nation
- Lovejoy has now scored in double figures four times in the last five games and 21 times in his career
- Lovejoy's previous high was 19 points against Ball State, while his previous high in field goals was eight at Toledo last season
- Lovejoy now has 20 assists and seven turnovers in the last five games
- The last Titan to make 10 field goals in a game was Jayden Stone last year at Milwaukee in the first round of the Horizon League Championship
- Geeter was in double figures for the second time this season, behind the 14 he had against Niagara
- Geeter had three steals, three times in his career, including against UDM last season
- Lary also had six boards versus Niagara
- Mitchell is now 8-for-11 on the season after his 4-for-4 effort
