FLUSHING, N.Y. – Riding a two-game winning streak, the Queens College men's basketball team came out sluggish in the first half and never recovered as they fell 65-51 to the visiting Mercy College Mavericks in East Coast Conference action inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
With the loss, the Knights moved to 8-7 overall, 6-5 in ECC play, while the Mavericks moved to 3-17 overall, 3-10 in conference play.
The Knights split the season series with the Mavericks.
How It Happened
The Mavericks opened the scoring in the first half before senior
Eddie Mehmetaj (Jamaica, N.Y.) put the Knights on the board knocking down two free throws at the charity stripe.
Junior
Tyler Carey (Bay Shore N.Y.) tallied six points to keep Queens within striking distance as the home side got within two, 10-8 with 15:24 left in the first half. But Queens would go scoreless from 15:24 to 7:26 going 0-14 in that run. Mercy would use Queens shooting struggles to their advantage and go on a 19-0 run to take a 29-8 lead before
Shamar Chester (Queens, N.Y.) made a free throw to stop the scoring drought.
The Mavericks went up by 22, 31-9 with 7:20 but both sides would combine for 0-13 from 7:20 to 2:51 before sophomore
Malik Bentinck (Queens, N.Y.) stopped the bleeding with a jumper. Bentinck's field goal at 2:51 was the first made shot for the Knights since the 15:24 mark.
Despite keeping the Mavericks to one field goal over the final 7:20 of the first half, Queens was unable to find a rhythm and went into halftime trailing by 18, 33-15.
The visitors would keep the lead above 18 as Queens looked to rally back in the opening minutes of the second half. Trailing 40-19, the Knights put on a 21-8 run, their best run of the run from 16:26 to 7:49 as the duo of Herrington and Bentinck combined for 14 points. Freshman
Jayden Seraphin (Lakeview, N.Y) quick five points would get the Knights within seven, 48-41 with 7:49 to go, their lowest deficit since the opening minutes of the game.
But a Mavericks three-point play at the under-eight media timeout would end any chance of the Knights accomplishing a rally as they fell 65-51 to the Mavericks Wednesday evening.
By the Numbers
Playing a season-high 16 minutes of bench Bentinck led the Knights with a career-high 15 points (6-of-11 FG, 3-of-4 FT) with eight rebounds. While Mehmetaj tallied a near double-double with nine points (3-of-9 FG) and 12 rebounds.
Queens shot a season-low 25.7 percent (18-of-70) from the field and 6.3 percent (1-of-16) from beyond the arc, while Mercy shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field, 30.0 percent (3-of-10) from three-point land.
Around the ECC
Despite the loss to the Mavericks, Queens stays in third place in the conference standings as Molloy College fell to #22 St. Thomas Aquinas College and Roberts Wesleyan College were defeated by College of Staten Island.
UP NEXT: The Knights hit the road as they travel to Sparkill, N.Y. on Saturday afternoon as they go up against defending ECC Champions and #22 Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College. Tip-off set for 3:00 p.m.
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