Senior Antoine Davis broke the school and Horizon League record for career 3-pointers and the Titans used an explosive 22-4 offensive charge in the second half to win their second-straight game as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team defeated UIC on the road, 64-56, on Sunday afternoon.
Antoine Davis finished with a game-high 19 points and five assists and his three 3-pointers gave him 350 in his career, besting the school and HL record of 348 by former Titan standout Rashad Phillips (348). Junior Madut Akec had 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Graduate senior Kevin McAdoo scored 10 points and senior Matt Johnson added nine points and five boards.
Congratulations to @DetroitMBB Antoine Davis on becoming the Horizon League's all-time leader in 3-pointers!#HLMBB pic.twitter.com/rGvV19RmYh
— Horizon League (@HorizonLeague) December 5, 2021
Detroit Mercy (2-6, 2-0 HL) had an early 9-3 lead but UIC (2-6, 0-2 HL) went on an 11-0 run and was in front for the rest of the half, taking a 27-21 advantage at the break.
In the second half, the Flames came out with six in a row to open a double-digit lead at 33-21 with 18:43 left, but that is when the Titans caught fire going on a 22-4 spurt over the next nine minutes to jump out in front, 43-37. During that run, the Titans were 7-of-10 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers, while holding UIC to 2-of-9 from the field with five turnovers.
Akec was the catalyst in that spurt scoring 12 points, including the last nine points in the run as his jumper put the team ahead 38-37 at the 11:15 mark and a free throw was the final point in the charge for a 43-37 lead with 9:45 left.
A 3-pointer and a layup from Davis followed by two free throws from Akec had the red, white and blue ahead, 50-41, with 6:50 remaining and the Titans would open a double-digit lead themselves in the final minute as they hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The Titans shot 39.6% in the game, but were 17-of-20 (85.0%) at the free-throw line and had just 10 turnovers. The defense held UIC to 35.7% shooting and just 7-of-32 from the outside, while forcing 12 turnovers.
Detroit Mercy will now step back outside of conference play as the Titans head to Kent State on Thursday in the final game of a season-opening nine-game road trip.
