CHICAGO (11/3/2025) -- Three Titans scored in double figures - led by junior
Ayden Carter's 18 - but UDM could not overcome a slow shooting night as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team fell, 91-71, at UIC on Monday night.
It was the season opener for both schools, which were once Horizon League rivals.
Carter also had five rebounds and two assists. Freshman
Keshawn Fisher had 12 points, while senior
Orlando Lovejoy tallied 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
The Titans got off to a hot start with jumpers from sophomore
TJ Nadeau and Lovejoy, and had an 8-2 lead after an offensive rebound and putback from senior
Legend Geeter.
UDM then scored seven straight for a 15-7 advantage as Carter nailed a three, Lovejoy had a basket, and off a steal by freshman
Lance Stone, Fisher had a fast-break layup. The Titans then had a double-digit lead at 20-10 off another Fisher layup and 23-13 as he rang in a triple with 12:01 left in the half.
Detroit Mercy led by eight, 25-17, at the 9:45 mark after sophomore
Ryan Kalambay's offensive tip-in, but then the Flames ended the half on a 21-6 run to take a 38-31 score into the break.
In the second half, the Titans were down by just seven, 40-33, when the Flames slowly began to extend the margin, making it 57-40 at the 12:05 mark.
UDM was able to stave off that spurt, and then sophomore
Nate Johnson hit back-to-back 3s to cut it to 60-51 with 9:46 remaining. That is when the Flames went on a 15-3 charge to put the game away.
Johnson ended with seven points, four rebounds and two steals. Stone finished with six points and three boards, and Geeter and junior
London Maiden pulled down five caroms.
The Titans will get back to work as they stay on the road to battle Catholic-rival Notre Dame on Friday, with game time set for 7:00 P.M.
Game Notes:
- The Nov. 3 date is the earliest start to a basketball season in school history
- Detroit Mercy and UIC were rivals in the Horizon League for almost 30 years until the Flames departed for the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23
- The Titans lead the all-time series, 34-23, and are now 15-14 on the road
- Detroit Mercy is 16-69 all-time in road openers since 1932 and has dropped 25 straight road openers, with the last win an 87-65 tally at Chicago State to begin the 2000-01 campaign
- The Titans are now 83-36 all-time on opening day, with two years in the early 1900s unknown due to record-keeping
- The 40, 3-point attempts were the most since UDM shot a school-record 46 at Oakland on Dec. 28, 2019
- In fact, the red, white, and blue had just two games last year with double-digit 3-pointers (10 at Oakland, 11 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne) and have reached that mark just four times in the last 65 games
- Carter had eight 20-point games at Walsh, including a career-high 34 at Northwood
