ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Marlon Pratt Jr. has a word to describe the Roberts Wesleyan University men's basketball team.
"Resilient." Pratt said. "We've been resilient the whole year. We've been down 30 points and came back and took a lead. We were resilient again tonight and a lot of guys stepped up. You never know when it's going to be your time, so you need to be ready."
It took them a while, but the Redhawks delivered on Friday night.
Roberts fell behind by 15 points in the first half and came all the way back to defeat Mercy 89-83 in an East Coast Conference game at the Voller Athletic Center.
"There was not a lot of flow to the game, but in the end a win is a win – and they are tough to come by," Roberts coach Mark Saladzius said.
Pratt led the Redhawks (5-6, 2-1 ECC) with 18 points and senior forward Jean Aristil contributed 15 on five three-pointers, including the go-ahead basket from the left corner with 59 seconds to play.
"Jean's my guy," Pratt said. "He can shoot the ball and he is just getting started, too."
Junior guard Ryan Garwood finished with 13 points and sophomore guard Ryan Hudson added 12. Malik Brooks and Kevin Constant both scored nine for Roberts.
Mercy held a 31-16 advantage with 7:48 remaining in the first half before Roberts closed the opening stanza with a 24-11 run capped by Garwood's three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 42-40.
The Mavericks built a nine-point lead early in the second half, but Roberts rallied again and took its first lead since 9-7 on two free throws by Garwood with 8:21 remaining.
Mercy jumped in front again, 78-74, before Roberts' pressure defense took over. Aristil started a 9-0 run with a three-pointer and Pratt, Hudson and Garwood all converted layups off of turnovers to give Roberts an 83-78 lead with 2:56 to play. Mercy responded with a 5-0 run, but Aristil made his big three and the Redhawks went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 26 seconds to close out the victory.
Even though Roberts trailed for the majority of the game, Saladzius was confident that the Redhawks would find a way to grind out the victory.
"It's just a matter of maintaining our style and staying with it," he said.
The Redhawks are scheduled to play Saint Thomas Aquinas College in an ECC game at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Voller Athletic Center.