BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Closing out the 2024 Bridgeport Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday afternoon, Post University Men's Basketball could breathe a little easier after their overtime thriller the other night against Franklin Pierce University. Trailing only once to Mercy University, the Eagles pulled away in the latter part of the first half and never looked back en route to an 83-69 win over the Mavericks to move to 2-0 to start the season. 

THE BASICS

(RV) Post University 83, Mercy University 69

(RV) Post University (2-0)

Mercy University (0-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior guard Bol Akot led the Eagles for the second straight game with a 20-point effort on 5-of-7 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws made while also dishing out a game-high seven assists and three steals in the victory. Sophomore Shedrach Makanjuola led the Mavericks in the affair with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting while making 4-of-6 free throws despite thr 14-point loss for Mercy in the neutral site matchup.

Akot, sophomore guard Ta'Quan Williams, and senior forward Deng Deang all started the show for Post who began the game on a 7-2 run and eventually held a 13-8 lead with about 14 minutes to go in the first half before a scoring drought occurred. It would take nearly five minutes for either side to get a basket and when they did it was senior Taj Chiles for the Mavericks who began a 9-0 run for Mercy to give them their first and only lead of the contest, 17-13, which would also be their largest lead of the game. 

Responding in kind would be Post with Deang and senior guard Robert Sanders kicking off a 13-0 run that put the Eagles in front by a half-best nine points, 26-17, before two made baskets by the Mavericks briefly cut into the lead which would blossom back to nine, 30-21, heading into halftime. The lead for the Eagles would get as high as 21 points with under eight minutes to go and as low as 11 points on two occasions inside of five minutes, but Post was never threatened as they went on to take the game easily, 83-69, starting the season 2-0 for the second straight year. 

As a team, the shooting for Post remained steady from their first game, hovering at 45% from the floor and 25% from three while improving on their free throw shooting to the tune of a 22-for-26 (84.6%) which was better than their 27-for-36 (75%) outing against the Ravens on Friday. The Eagles also cut their turnovers in half, only committing 12 today compared to 24 from a day ago and were less aggressive in terms of fouling with 18 which was 10 less than their last game. 

Making the most from the charity stripe, the Eagles had 18 second-half free throws and made 16 of them after going 6-for-8 in the first half while also shooting a fiery 53.3% from the floor after making 16-of-30 shots. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• For the second straight game, Bol Akot led Post University in scoring, this time scoring 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting while making 9-of-10 free throws and dishing out seven assists 
• Shedrach Makanjuola led all scorers in the game with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting for Mercy University 
• Leading by nine at half, 30-21, and going on to win the game, Post University moves to 2-0 when leading at halftime this season 
• Post University has now won four consecutive matchups against Mercy University since the 2019-20 season after losing their first-ever matchup in 2018-19 by one point -- All four wins have come by double-digit margins for the Eagles 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University finishes up their three-game road trip to start the 2024-25 season against Bentley University on Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM. The Falcons entered the season in sixth for the D2CSC Men's Basketball East Region Preseason Poll and lost a thriller to the Eagles, 74-73, on a last-second layup by Kyle Alcy to give Post their first win in program history against Bentley last season.