• Box Score

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Jan. 4, 2012) - Led by junior Kayvon Roberts' (Corona, N.Y.) 17 points, the NYIT men's basketball team evened to 1-1 in East Coast Conference play with a 74-56 win over Mercy Wednesday night at Recreation Hall. The Bears improved to 4-7 on the season with the victory while the Mavericks dropped to 1-11 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Junior Antoine Brown (Washington, D.C.) added 16 points for NYIT and junior Azel Prather Jr. (Glenarden, N.Y.) led the game with eight rebounds.

Free throw shooting was in NYIT's favor against Mercy as the Bears shot 70.8% compared to the Mavericks 41.7%.

The beginning of the first half was closely played as the score was knotted 9-9 with 13:13 to play. Yet, the Bears then went on a 18-1 run that started with free throws by Dominic Scurry (Ozone Park, N.Y.) at 12:43 and ended on free shots by Jahleel Felix (Flushing, N.Y.) at 7:13. NYIT controlled the scoreboard with a 27-10 tally. The two teams then exchanged a handful of baskets before the Bears earned a 19-point edge 34-15 on a dunk by Brown with 3:51 to play. NYIT held on for a 40-22 advantage at halftime.

NYIT maintained a double-digit edge over Mercy for the remainder of the contest. The Bears earned their largest lead of the night, 72-49, on a layup by Will Udoh (Laurel, Md.) with 3:17. The 11-2 run began on a traditional three-point play by Roberts at 6:10. The Mavericks did make a late game push but it was too late as the Bears went on to win 74-56 on free throws by Udoh.

For Mercy, Joseph Pope and Colin Senior each had 11 points, while LeBrandon Smith grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

The Bears return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 on the road against the Lions of Molloy College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Rockville Centre, N.Y.