Men's Basketball Starts Slowly, Loses to STAC 84-73

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. -- The Mercy College men's basketball team started slowly and lost an East Coast Conference matchup to St. Thomas Aquinas 84-73 on Wednesday night at the Mercy College Gym in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Leading the Mavericks (1-17; 1-10 ECC) was junior Manny Garcia, who scored 17 points and added as many rebounds. Classmate Hasaan Powell led Mercy with 20 points.

STAC jumped out to an early seven point lead just four minutes into the contest. Ra'Shad James was a major contributor early for the Spartans (4-12; 3-7 ECC), scoring 21 of his game-high 27 points in the first half. Justin Brown scored 21 points and added a pair of blocked shots for STAC.

Mercy would cut the lead to one point midway through the first half, but a 25-4 STAC run would put the game out of reach. Late in the second half, Mercy was able to find an offensive rhythm, and would cut the lead to as few as nine points with 1:26 to play in the game.

Three other Mavericks recorded double digits in scoring: Jimmy Gunville with 13, Bryan Van Cott with 11, and Tyler Jones with 10.

Mercy College takes the court again on Saturday, January 30, for a 2 p.m. contest against Molloy.