NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Result
Saturday, December 22,
2007
|
Chanze Wellington |
Le Moyne Tops Mercy College Men's Basketball with Second Half Surge, 78-62
SYRACUSE, NY - Le Moyne College used a big second half to defeat Mercy College 78-62 in non-conference men's basketball action on Saturday. The Mavericks are now 2-8 overall, while the Dolphins improved to 6-4 on the season.
Senior guard Paul Flowers (New York, NY) paced Mercy with 17 points on 8-of-18 from the field and added a team-high eight rebounds. Senior guard Chanze Wellington (Spring Valley, NY) added 16 points, hitting a trio of three-pointers, and junior guard Michael Marin (Flushing, NY) chipped in 14 points.
Le Moyne's Lawrence Ekperigin registered a double-double with game-highs of 28 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocks. He went 11-for-13 from the floor and was 6-of-9 at the charity stripe.
The first 10 minutes of the contest saw five lead changes and five ties in a see-saw affair early on. Mercy built a four-point lead, 17-13 at the 9:44 mark on a Marin jumper before the Dolphins used an 11-4 spurt to regain the edge at 24-21. Le Moyne extended the margin to 32-25 when the Mavericks came back with a 10-3 run, getting a pair of Wellington three-pointers and four points from Flowers to knot the game at 35-35.
Le Moyne seized the lead again on a Jason Holmes layup with 38 seconds left before halftime, but Marin's last second jumper tied the game once more at 37-37 heading into the break.
The second frame got off to a sluggish start with both squads failing to score in the first 2:44. Ekperigin finally broke the drought with a basket and a free throw after being fouled on the play to give the Dolphins a 40-37 edge. A layup by senior forward Keiron Guy (Brooklyn, NY) brought Mercy within one, but Le Moyne put together an 18-5 run to stretch its lead to 58-44 midway through the second half.
The Mavericks cut the deficit to 10 at 58-48 on layups by freshman guard Ed Wilson (Bronx, NY) and Flowers. The Dolphins then mounted the decisive surge, a 15-3 stretch that put the game out of reach, 73-51 with 2:35 to go.
Mercy will return to action on Friday, December 28, with another non-conference tilt at St. Anselm's beginning at 7:00 p.m.
