The Mercer men’s basketball team defeated the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) Dundalk Lions 97-89 on Thursday night, February 13. The comeback victory before a raucous crowd inside the Physical Education building.
Before the game Eric Grundman, Athletic Director for Mercer, explained that in order to compete in the Region 19 Championship, the team has to win all their remaining games.
Before the game Dundalk head coach Byron King said, “We’re a perimeter-oriented team. We have to really defend and we have to rebound the basketball.”
The Lions opened a 17-7 lead five minutes into the game and appeared to have little trouble passing through Mercer’s zone to get easy opportunities at the basket. Dundalk went into halftime with a twelve-point lead, 43-31.
Head coach Howard Levy said, “I didn’t like the way we played in the first half offensively,” he added that the players weren’t passing the ball enough saying, “I thought [there was] a little too much individual stuff.”
Drew Parrish, guard for the Vikings, echoed his coach after the game saying, “At halftime, we weren’t playing together. We were looking for our own shots.”
Early in the second half, the Vikings cut the lead to six with sixteen minutes to go.
Mercer’s guards started picking up Dundalk’s ball handlers farther up the court. The strategy yielded results with missed shots and turnovers. Many of those Dundalk giveaways turned into Mercer baskets.
A three-pointer by Joell Idrovo from Mercer made it a 69-66 game with 7:41 remaining. Then Parrish hit a circus shot by gliding from one side of the backboard to the other. He kissed the ball off the backboard and in without a view of the hoop.
After a layup by Mercer guard Jayson Love, Mercer gave the home team the lead for the first time at 70-69, the crowd exploded in cheers. A layup by Torren Greene from Mercer made the score 72-69 and they never looked back.
Dundalk managed to pull back to a tie of 76-76 after a three-pointer. But two free-throws by the Vikings Torren Greene gave Mercer the lead for good.
Garden State Athletic Conference D2 Basketball Player of the Week Greene was a standout for Mercer. The point guard contributed 22 points and 5 rebounds.
Levy said, “You wouldn’t know [Greene] didn’t score points in high school. He was a pass-first point guard. His speed, his energy, it really makes us go. He’s terrific.”
After the game Levy, wearing a smile to fit his full 6-foot, ten-inch frame, said, “The speed at which we’re playing this year means oftentimes, we give up leads and we get them back. We came back like three or four times in that game and they really came together.”
On the other sideline, when asked what happened in the second half, King said, “I don’t know. We just got up and out of haywire.”
