DETROIT (3/4/2026) -- Five Titans scored in double figures as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team put the foot on the gas pedal and never let it go, steamrolling past Milwaukee, 84-63, on Wednesday night in Calihan Hall.
The third-seeded Titans (16-14) - winners of eight of the last 10 - will now meet second-seeded Robert Morris in the Barbasol #HLMBB Championship Semifinals on Monday at 9:30 p.m. at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sophomore
TJ Nadeau led the way with 17 points and six rebounds. Redshirt freshman
Tyler Spratt added 15 points, while senior
Legend Geeter tallied 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Senior
Orlando Lovejoy scored 13 points with six rebounds, three assists, and junior
London Maiden had 12 points in just 13 minutes.
The Titans shot 53.6% from the field and were 17-of-21 (81.0%) at the line, while holding Milwaukee (12-20) to 37.1% shooting.
Detroit Mercy took a commanding lead with a 14-0 run early on for a 16-5 advantage. Nadeau and Maiden had four points apiece in that span, and sophomore
Ryan Kalambay put the finishing touches, getting to the rim for a bucket and the foul, hitting the free throw.
Later on, Geeter started a 7-0 spurt with a three and back-to-back baskets by Maiden and Lovejoy had the team up, 28-15, with 6:41 left in the first. UDM then sank two straight triples off the hands of freshman
Lance Stone and Nadeau to up the advantage to 36-19 before heading into the break in front, 38-24.
In the second half, Lovejoy went to the hoop for a layup and the foul as his free throw made it 47-26. The Titans would extend the lead to as many as 26, 63-37, with 11:09 left, as Lovejoy had another layup.
The red, white and blue would stay with a comfortable 20-point lead the rest of the way to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2012-13, and register its biggest winning margin in the playoffs since rolling past Cleveland State, 92-58, in 2006.
Kalambay ended with five points and a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks, while Stone finished with seven points, two rebounds, and two assists.
The other semifinal will have top-seeded Wright State face the winner of NKU-Green Bay.
Game Notes:
- The Panthers still have a 36-32 advantage in the match-up, but the Titans own an 18-13 record at home
- UDM is now 2-5 all-time against Milwaukee in the postseason, ending a five-game slide against the Panthers, with the other win a 74-60 semifinals victory in 1998, held in Green Bay
- The Titans are a perfect 10-0 at home in the playoffs
- UDM took all three games against Milwaukee this year, just the 12th time in school history it has done that
- Detroit Mercy is now 39-42 all-time in the HL postseason with eight trips to the title game (1988, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2012) and three championships (1994, 1999, 2012)
- The 16th overall win is the most since UDM was 16-15 in 2015-16
- Detroit Mercy's 8-2 record in its last 10 games is the best 10-game span since a 9-1 run in 2020-21
- Detroit Mercy came into the night second in the Horizon League in three-point field-goal defense (33.5%) and second in overall field-goal percentage defense (44.7)
- In the last 10 games, the Titans have shot at least 50.0% seven times
- Detroit Mercy won the glass in 13 of the 20 regular-season league contests
- The Titans came into the game leading the HL and 32nd in the nation at the free-throw line at 77.0%, and have now reached double-digit made free throws in 24 games this year
- UDM has had 10 or fewer turnovers in 12 games this year, including five of the last seven
- Nadeau - named All-HL Third Team - has netted double figures in 20 of his 29 games
- Nadeau now has nine games on the year with at least five rebounds
- Lovejoy - All-HL First Team - now has 1,325 points, 310 assists, and 165 steals in his career
- Lovejoy has now scored in double figures in 10 straight games
- Geeter now has at least five rebounds in 20 games this season, including 11 of the last 12, and also has at least three assists in 10 games and 37 in the last 11 contests
- Geeter has been in double figures seven times this year
- Spratt has scored in double figures 13 times in the last 17 games
- Spratt now has 53 triples on the year
- Maiden has been in double figures eight times this season and is shooting 55.3% from the field
- Kalambay has scored at least eight points in six of the last 11 games and grabbed at least five rebounds in 18 of his last 20
- Kalambay now has 40 blocks on the year, the most since Chris Brandon had 44 in 2019-20
