Detroit Mercy men’s basketball has started something.
Now it wants to finish what it’s started.
Point-guard tandem Orlando Lovejoy and Lance Stone combined for 37 points and a collection of Detroit- and Michigan-raised Titans upset Robert Morris, 70-64, in the Horizon League tournament semifinals late Monday night at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis.
One more win, and Detroit Mercy will make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012.
“This is what you dreamed about your whole life, this is what you practice for, this is why you come back into the gym late at night,” Detroit Mercy second-year head coach Mark Montgomery told The News after the game, relaying the message to his team Monday. “You’re fulfilling a lifelong memory, but you’ve gotta win the game.
“Now we’ve got a chance to do something really, really special.”
And something few saw coming for Detroit Mercy, which won just one game two seasons ago, and was picked to finish ninth in the Horizon League before the season.
Detroit Mercy (17-14) now will play regular-season Horizon League champion Wright State (22-11) in the championship game at 7 Tuesday night. The game will be on ESPN.
The teams split two games during the regular season.
“Huge win,” said assistant coach LaMonta Stone, Lance’s dad. “We aren’t satisfied.”
Montgomery also made that abundantly clear after the game, talking about the day the team all arrived on campus back in June. One of the first things coaches and players did was watch film of Robert Morris cutting down the nets at Corteva Coliseum a year ago, having punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. One year later, and Detroit Mercy could be doing the same thing.
The Titans can largely thank the combo of Lovejoy, a senior, and Stone, a freshman, who began the season playing very little together on the court on the same time (Stone would occasionally spell Lovejoy), but are finishing it side by side, making plays like they have since they first met when Stone was in middle school.
Lovejoy scored 21, and Stone tied his career high with 16, including 11 in the first half.
“I know what he can do,” Lovejoy said after Monday night’s game, speaking of his road-trip roommate. “It’s hard to play as a freshman. Everybody’s breathing down your neck.
“Lance Stone can do anything with the basketball.”
The duo gave Detroit Mercy the spark it needed after halftime, when it trailed, 36-33. It didn’t take long for the Titans to race out to a nine-point lead after the break, highlighted by one 3-pointer by Stone as time on the shot clock was about to expire. It was a big moment for Stone, the smallest player on the court at 5-foot-8.
The Titans led from the 14-minute mark in the second half on, though things never really got comfortable until the clock struck zero. Robert Morris had multiple chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but gave one away on a careless turnover, and another when DeSean Goode’s offensive rebound on a missed free throw in the final seconds went for naught as he caught it while falling out of bounds. His attempt to save it was picked off by Detroit Mercy sophomore forward Ryan Kalambay, whose two free throws sealed the victory.
“We didn’t make as many winning plays as you would need to make. Detroit really outplayed us in that part of the game. They just seemed to be in the right places at the right times,” Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole said during the postgame press conference. “They really, really, really came together as a group down the stretch this season, and Lovejoy played like a senior who didn’t want his career to end.
“Give great credit to Detroit.”
Robert Morris (22-11) swept the two regular-season games against Detroit Mercy, but in both of those, the Titans led at the halftime. This time, the halftime script was reversed, as was the final outcome.
Lovejoy scored eight of his team’s first 12 points in Monday’s game, then deferred to Stone, who rose to the occasion on the big stage. Lovejoy helped put it away late from the free-throw line, where he was 11-for-12. Lovejoy also had six assists.
“It’s really just a connection thing,” Stone said. “We’ve known each other a long time.”
Many of the players on Detroit Mercy’s roster have, as Montgomery, when he got the job two years ago set out to bring the program back to its roots, with players from the city, the Detroit Metro area and the state.
Many of those players had their moments in the semifinal, including redshirt freshman guard Tyler Spratt (North Farmington. He had 10 points for the Titans, who shot 52.2% in the second half. Redshirt senior guard Legend Geeter (River Rouge), Lovejoy’s college teammate for four years (two at Eastern Michigan and two at Detroit Mercy) and friend since elementary school, had 10 rebounds and nine points. Lovejoy, Kalambay and Stone combined for eight steals.
Sophomore forward DeSean Goode, the Horizon League player of the year, scored 14 to lead four Robert Morris players in double figures. He had 10 rebounds but also had four turnovers, tying a season high. Junior forward Nicolaos Chitikoudis had 13 points and seven assists before fouling out. Redshirt junior guard Ryan Prather Jr. and redshirt sophomore guard Ta’Zir Smith each scored 11
Detroit Mercy made its second-half push despite missing sophomore guard TJ Nadeau (Detroit Catholic Central) for much of the final 20 minutes, as he picked up his fourth foul early in the second half.
“We had other guys step up,” said Montgomery, who was an NCAA Tournament regular during two stints as an assistant on Tom Izzo’s staff at Michigan State, but didn’t make it during his previous head-coaching stop at Northern Illinois (2011-20). “It’s a team.”
And it’s a team that’s surging at the right time. Detroit Mercy won for the ninth time in its last 11 games, while also halting Robert Morris’ winning stream at eight.
With the win, the Titans also secured just their second winning season in the last 10 years.
The women’s championship game be at noon Tuesday, featuring regular-season champion Green Bay (24-8) against No. 2 seed Youngstown State (24-8). In the semifinals, Green Bay beat Purdue-Fort Wayne, 73-48, as Clarkston alum and Oakland transfer Maddy Skorupski, a senior guard had 10 rebounds, eight assists, seven points and six assists for the Phoenix. Youngstown State beat Cleveland State, 60-55.
Horizon League men’s championship
NO. 1 WRIGHT STATE VS. NO. 3 DETROIT MERCY
➤ Tip-off: 7 Tuesday, Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ TV: ESPN
➤ Records: Wright State 22-11; Detroit Mercy 17-15
➤ At stake: The league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Horizon League women’s championship
NO. 1 GREEN BAY VS. NO. 2 YOUNGSTOWN STATE
➤ Tip-off: Noon Tuesday, Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ TV: ESPN2
➤ Records: Green Bay 24-8; Youngstown State 24-8
➤ At stake: The league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit’s dancin’ dreams alive: With one more win, Mercy returns to the NCAAs
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
