Men's Basketball Team Completes Regular Season in Triumph

Men's Basketball Team Completes Regular Season in Triumph

2/20/15

West Windsor, N.J. – A win last night capped off a stellar regular season for the men's basketball team. In their final Region 19 game, the Vikings defeated Valley Forge Military College, a newcomer to the region, by a score of 92-71. The victory completes a 14-game winning streak and 22-3 overall record. (The last time Mercer lost was on Dec. 4.) The Vikings enter the post-season tournament as the no. 1 seed and are now ranked 17th in the nation.

In the Valley Forge game, many players contributed to team totals. Tyliek Kimbrough led the Vikings with 20 points, with Dashante Alexander scoring 18. Kevin Alexis added 13 points off the bench and David Johnson had 12 points and 5 steals. Mustafa El-Amin chipped in 11 points, dished out 8 assists and pulled down 6 rebounds. Dean Blank went a perfect 3 for 3 in field goals and from the foul line to finish with 9 points.

According to Head Coach Howard Levy, his players are doing a tremendous job of working together and relying on each other to make the plays that lead to wins. He notes that players are also getting the job done in the classroom.

In the gym lobby prior to heading to their final game at Valley Forge Military College are, front row, from left, Ezren Bell, Kenyatta Long, Kevin Alexis, David Johnson and Tyliek Kimbrough; back row, from left, Dashante Alexander, Mustafa El-Amin, Dean Blank, Daquan Hargrove, Salam Simon (Stats/Manager) and Petar Milivojevic.

“These players performed well in the classroom during the first semester, which allowed us to keep practicing and playing at full strength. And that kept us improving as a team,” he said.

In fact, Levy considers teamwork to be at the heart of all the Vikings have achieved thus far. “We have a lot of talented guys who have bought into the idea that sharing the ball helps us win. Several guys have sacrificed individual scoring in order to make their teammates better,” he said.

Levy notes that the defense has become increasingly solid as well. "We have made our opponents work hard to score.”

The Vikings' final regular season home game on Feb. 10 was Sophomore Night, when five sophomores were honored: Dashante Alexander (Philadelphia, PA/Simon Gratz), Mustafa El-Amin (Mt. Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley), David Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Communications Tech), Tyliek Kimbrough (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) and Petar Milivojevic (Belgrade, Serbia/Crenshaw Christian).

The sophomores shined on their big night, defeating Raritan 70-63. Johnson pumped in a game-high 34 points and Milivojevic added 8 points. Kimbrough had 7 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals, and El-Amin dished out 7 assists and pulled down 6 rebounds. Freshmen Kevin Alexis (Trenton, NJ/Nottingham) and Daquan Hargrove (Trenton, NJ, Daylight/Twilight) each added 6 points in the win.

The post-season starts Feb. 26. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at Morris County College. The Vikings' opponent will be decided based on final games to be played this weekend.

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