DETROIT (11/4/2024) -- Eleven Titans scored and UDM used a first-half run to open the game up as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team downed NAIA program Cleary, 91-52, on Monday night on Dick Vitale Court in Calihan Hall.
The win was head coach
Mark Montgomery's 125th career victory, but his first as a Titan. He became the 14th head coach in program history to win his Detroit Mercy debut, and the first since Bacari Alexander did so in 2016.
Senior
Orlando Lovejoy and freshman
Stephen Okoro led Detroit Mercy with 13 points apiece, with Okoro adding 10 boards for a double-double in his career debut. Senior
Mak Manciel tallied 12 points and five rebounds and freshman
Nate Johnson added nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
The game was tied at 15-15 when the Titans netted seven-straight points as Johnson hit two free throws, junior
Jared Lary hit a three and Lovejoy had a bucket. Detroit Mercy was on top, 29-23, when it scored nine in a row as freshman
Ryan Kalambay went inside for a layup and Johnson followed with one of his own. Freshman
TJ Nadeau connected on a three, and Lary had a steal and slam for a 38-23 lead, and the red, white, and blue claimed a 40-28 lead at the break.
UDM started the second half on a 12-3 run, led by six points from Manciel, and off a Kalambay steal, Nadeau went inside for a score and a 52-31 margin as the Titans never looked back.
The Titans led by as many as 41 in the second half en route to the victory.
UDM controlled the boards to the tune of a 53-24 advantage, the most rebounds by the Titans since 2016. The Titans also scored 54 points in the paint compared to Cleary's 16.
As a team, Detroit Mercy shot 34-of-69 from the field and 7-of-26 from three-point range, while also going 16-of-21 at the free throw line. UDM forced 13 turnovers and came away with six steals.
The Titans will hit the road for their next game as the red, white and blue visit Jesuit-rival Loyola on Thursday, 7, with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. (EST).
Game Notes:
- The Titans are now 3-0 over Cleary as the two schools met in 1905 and 1906, both 36-9 Titan wins
- The game marked the earliest official game in school history, besting the Nov. 6 game last year at Toledo and the Nov. 6 contest at Western Michigan in 2018
- Detroit Mercy is 79-13 in general home openers dating back to the 1932-33 campaign, including winning 28 of its last 31, but it has won 17-straight season-opening home contests, with the last setback to start the 1993-94 season, the first game for Hall-Of-Fame head coach Perry Watson
- The Titans have won 36 in a row against them during the regular season, with the last loss against Wayne State in 1993 and are 261-67 (.792) all-time against non-division one foes
- UDM is 295-177 (.619) all-time against other schools from the state of Michigan, including 275-103 versus programs outside the two Big Ten institutions
- The 39-point win was the largest since defeating UM-Dearborn 96-51 in 2022
- The 91 points scored in regulation were the most since beating Oakland, 96-74, on the road in 2023
- UDM's 36 field goals were the most since connecting on 36 at Robert Morris last season in a double-overtime 102-99 setback
- The Titans' 53 rebounds were the most since grabbing 53 against Youngstown State in 2016
- Okoro is the first Titan freshman to register a double-double since Marquis Moore had one against IUPUI late in the 2018-19 campaign
- Manciel now has eight double-digit scoring efforts in his last 16 games as a Titan
- Lovejoy was in double figures for the 17th time in his career
