FAIRBORN, Ohio (2/8/2024) -- Two Titans netted 20 points and the red, white and blue made a strong second-half push to make it a one-possession game, but UDM just came up short as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team dropped a 92-85 decision at Wright State on Thursday night.
Sophomore
Marcus Tankersley tied his career-high with a game-high 29 points, hitting 9-of-14 from the field with three 3-pointers and was 8-of-9 at the line. He also added a career-best six assists, three rebounds and career-tying three steals.
Junior
Mak Manciel posted a season-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 5-of-7 from three, adding a block and a steal. Senior
Jayden Stone scored 19 points and handed out four assists with two boards and graduate senior
Edoardo Del Cadia had 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting with three steals, two blocks, two assists and two caroms.
Detroit Mercy (0-25, 0-14 HL) saw Wright State (14-11, 9-5 HL) take as high as a 22-point lead in the first half, 44-22, but the Titans kept chipping away, making it an 18-point deficit at the break, 50-32.
A couple of 3-pointers from Manciel trimmed the margin to 14, 52-38, and Del Cadia had a steal and got inside for a score and it was 53-40 at the 17:13 mark.
UDM inched closer as Stone and Del Cadia had back-to-back baskets, and it was 55-44 with 15:54 remaining, but WSU extended the lead back to 18, 66-48, with 12:04 left.
That is when the Titans went on an 18-4 charge over the next five minutes to get right back in the game. Manciel started it with a three, and after a jumper from Tankersley, he made another from distance and it was 68-56. After a WSU basket, Manciel was fouled on a three-point shot and connected on all three, and that was followed by a triple from Stone to cut it to 70-62 with 8:20 on the clock.
Two free throws from Tankersley and a layup from Del Cadia and the Titans pulled within four at 70-66 a minute later.
Detroit Mercy would then make it a three-point game at seven different times, the latest at 88-85 after Tankersley buried a triple with just over a minute to go, but the Titans couldn't get that one final stop to try and knot the game up.
Graduate senior
Emmanuel Kuac added five points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal and senior
Kyle LeGreair registered two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
The Titans shot a season-high 59.6% (31-of-52) - including 62.1% in the second half - and a season-best 52.2% from three (12-of-23). Detroit Mercy also handed out a season-tying 16 assists and came away with nine steals.
At the start, Kuac and Tankersley had two straight baskets for a 4-2 lead and Stone had the team within one, 9-8, five minutes into the game. Wright State then went on an 18-2 run over the next seven minutes to open a 27-10 lead with 8:30 left and pushed it to 22 on two occasions at 42-20 and 44-22.
Detroit Mercy will stay on the road as the red, white and blue are at NKU on Saturday, with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
- Due to this year's non-travel party schedule in the league, this was the first time the Titans and Raiders met this season as they will play again in two weeks at Calihan Hall
- Wright State has now won 13 of the last 15 and 20 of the last 25, as the Raiders lead the all-time battle, 40-28, including 22-9 at WSU
- The Titans have struggled on offense but have picked it up in the last eight games, averaging 73.8 points after tallying just 60.1 in their first 17
- The Titans season-high in points is 99 at Robert Morris
- The 59.6% shooting is the best by the Titans since tallying 66.0% (31-of-47) against Green Bay in 2021
- The 12, 3-pointers are the most since making 13-of-26 at Oakland last season
- UDM also had 16 assists against Milwaukee
- Detroit Mercy has forced double-digit turnovers in 15 of its' 25 games on the season
- The Titans came into the contest fifth in the HL with 6.7 steals per game
- Tankersley also had 29 points at Robert Morris and now has seven 20-point games on the season
- Tankersley came into the game 11th in the league in free-throw percentage at 77.0%, 12th in the HL in scoring at 15.1 points and 13th in field-goal percentage at 42.4%
- Stone came into the game averaging a league-best 20.3 points and has played in 32 career games with the Titans, netting 20 or more 15 times and scoring in double figures 25 times
- Del Cadia has now scored in double figures in 11 games and is shooting 53.3% (79-of-149) from the field on the year
- Manciel has now scored in double figures in five games on the season
- Manciel's previous high in points was 16 in back-to-back games against Milwaukee and at NKU
