Lakewood, N.J.- Mercy College overcame a slim one-point deficit at halftime (29-28) with a mighty 40-point push in the second stanza as the visiting Mavericks escaped with a 68-57 road win over host-Georgian Court University Thursday evening in non-conference men's hoops action.

With the contest knotted at 40-40 with 10:09 remaining in regulation, Mercy (2-8) galloped away on a 10-0 spurt to build a 50-40 advantage with 7:37 left. That lead would climb to a game-high 18 points after a Jefferson Francois (Jr.-New York, N.Y.) jumper made the score 61-43 with 3:34 to go.

The Lions (1-9) outshot their guest from the floor 42.6% (23-54) to 36.2% (17-47), but the Mavericks made up for it by draining 26 free throws (42 attempts) on the night, courtesy of 30 GCU offenses. 

Mercy's Marko Kozul (Jr.-Astoria, N.Y.) topped all players wih his 22 points, making 7-of-10 field goal attempts. Ryan Hickey (Gr.-Smithtown, N.Y.) followed with 15 points while Francois contributed 10 points and a team-best seven boards.

On the home front, Keith Hughes registered his second double-double on the year with 13 points and 10 boards while Luka Zgonjanin fell a rebound short (14 points) of his own double-double effort. Juwuan Carter, for the second straight outing, paced the Lions by netting a team-high 15 points.

GCU returns to conference play this Saturday when the Lions host Wilmington University at 3:00 p.m.