Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 1)
Detroit 109, Aquinas College 59
Green Bay 78, Minnesota-Duluth 52
Detroit 109, Aquinas College 59
Six Titans scored in double figures as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team earned an 109-59 victory over visiting Aquinas College on Monday at historic Calihan Hall during Star Wars night.
Detroit (5-3) - which improved to 2-0 all-time on Star Wars night - was led by senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. who finished with a game-high 20 points on 10-of-11 shooting, while his classmate Brandan Kearney recorded a career-high with 17 points. Horizon League Freshman of the Week Paris Bass also finished with 17 points, to go along with a game-high nine rebounds and five steals in 22 minutes of action.
Junior guard Carlton Brundidge recorded a season-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in his first start of the season, while his classmate Anton Wilson pitched in 12 points with five assists and freshman Jaleel Hogan scored a career-high 12 points in his first collegiate start.
The Titans made their first five shots of the game to open an early 11-3 lead before taking a 16-8 advantage into the first media timeout. Kearney and Bass then made back-to-back three-pointers to help spark Detroit's next run as the Titans went up 36-16 with nine minutes remaining. Aquinas would trim the lead under 20, 38-20 with 8:28 left, but that was as close as the score would get as Detroit closed the half with a 22-14 run to take a 60-34 lead into the locker room. Kearney led Detroit with 12 points in the opening stanza, while Bass had 11 and Howard 10.
Aquinas (6-5) scored the first four points of the second half, before Detroit responded with a 24-6 run to build a 40 point lead 84-44 with 12:57 left in regulation. After a couple of baskets from the Saints, the Titans closed the game with a 21-9 run to including a couple of dunks from Bass to seal the win.
Detroit finished shooting 60.3 percent (41-of-68) overall including 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from three-point range. The Titans defense held Aquinas to 39.3 percent (22-of-56) overall, while causing a season-high 23 turnovers which resulted in 35 points. Detroit also dished out a season-high 22 assists, while only turning the ball over nine times.
Green Bay 78, Minnesota-Duluth 52
Green Bay (5-1) led wire-to-wire against Minnesota-Duluth on Monday night at the Resch Center, with three players in double figures. Green Bay’s defense was a major factor all game, forcing 16 turnovers on the night as the Phoenix routed the Bulldogs 78-52 in non-conference basketball action. The victory gives the Phoenix its best start since 1990-91.
The Phoenix was firing on all cylinders, shooting 51.7% from the field and a season-best 54.5% from behind the arc. Green Bay’s bench saw a lot of production in the game, adding 34 points of its own compared to only 19 from the Bulldog reserves.
Senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) led the Phoenix on the offensive end of the court, scoring a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 from the field. Playing in his 100th career game, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Year has now scored 1,593 career points.
Fellow senior Greg Mays (Chicago, Ill.) also made his presence known on the court tonight, recording his fourth-straight double-digit scoring performance with 13 points. Mays was also a factor on the defensive end of the floor, blocking two shots in 22 minutes.
Junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) contributed his usual stat-stuffing line, scoring 10 points, pulling down seven rebounds, tallying four assists, as well as recording two steals and one block in his 22 minutes on the floor.
Freshmen Khalil Small (Chicago, Ill.) and Daeshon Francis (Indianapolis, Ind.) both offered some quality minutes coming off the bench tonight. Francis went 3-for-5 from the field and scored six points in the contest, while Small went a perfect 4-for-4 and scored a career-high eight points on the night and pulled down another career-high four rebounds.
Senior Alfonzo McKinnie (Chicago, Ill.) added nine points of his own to the box score, with all nine of them coming from behind the arc on 3-for-4 shooting from three-point range.
