With the first week of Horizon League play in the books, we’ve already gotten a glimpse of how up-in-the-air the conference will be in the 2025-26 men’s basketball season. It’s always a grind that’ll require good play over the stretch of three whole months, and it’s important to never get too high or too low. However, the Detroit Mercy Titans are off to an excellent start after the first week of in-league play. They’re one of two 2-0 teams (along with Youngstown State) thus far and have notched two double-digit wins already. With a week-long break now in between games for them, let’s take a look at how the past week went for the Titans.
The red, white and blue kicked things off last Wednesday in the familiar Calihan Hall, where they took on the IU Indianapolis Jaguars at home. A fast-paced, up and down game is what they had to expect and prepare for, with the Jaguars coming into the game both scoring and giving up over 90 points per game. That type of game flow was exactly what they got. The Titans offense got off to a bit of a slow start, which included a couple of turnovers to the full court press that IU Indy applied.
After going down 10-5, junior London Maiden went right to work, scoring buckets on two straight possessions. A three from freshman Lance Stone then gave Detroit Mercy a 12-10 lead. An answering three-pointer from one of the Jaguars own freshmen Maguire Mitchell put IU Indy back in from 13-12 momentarily, but sophomore Ryan Kalambay cleaned things up on the offensive glass for a put-back layup on the other end to give the Titans the lead back with 12:43 in the first half. They wouldn’t trail again for the rest of the game.
Detroit Mercy would control the rest of the first half to take a 46-29 lead heading into the break. The Jaguars were hot to start the second half and went on a run to cut the Titan lead to 52-43 after a Kameron Tinsley three, but UDM responded by promptly scoring seven straight points to stretch the lead back out. It never got closer than 12 the rest of the way, with the Titans ending the 40-minute track meet on top for a 92-78 win. They were led by junior Ayden Carter, who had an all-around prominent performance. 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals made for yet another great showing in what has been an incredibly solid start to the season for him. Carter wasn’t alone, however, with London Maiden tacking on 18 points and nine rebounds in a near double-double, and the Titans as a team continued their improved shooting, going 31-of-64 (48%) from the field and 9-of-20 (45%) from three. Three of those triples came off the hand of Lance Stone, two came from senior Legend Geeter, and two from redshirt freshman Tyler Spratt. Detroit Mercy also went an exceptional 21-of-24 (88%) from the free-throw line.
Maiden in particular has really come on as of late, looking increasingly comfortable around the rim and in the paint. The first-year Titan talked about how and why he’s been able to make improved contributions in the last few games:
“My teammates and coaches [keep] trusting me and giving me the ball, and all the work I’ve put in is finally starting to pay off.”
He went on to speak on the fact that he’s not satisfied though, and wants to see even more from himself:
“I like how I’m finishing and rebounding, but I’m also looking to run the floor more and be able to stay out there longer, continue to expand my game.”
The next challenge that the Titans faced would happen three days later when they paid Cleveland, Ohio a visit to take on the Cleveland State Vikings on Saturday. Detroit Mercy got down early 16-9 thanks to three-pointers from Vikings’ Tre Beard, Josiah Harris and Preist Ryan, but they quickly responded by going on a 10-0 run in the next five minutes of play and outscoring Cleveland State 62-43 the rest of the game as a whole, en route to a 71-59 triumph on the road.
The Titans were led by a trademark TJ Nadeau shooting performance, as he ended with 26 points while going 9-of-14 from the field and 9-for-14 from beyond the arc. Orlando Lovejoy added on 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and six assists. The duo combined for 43 of the Titans 71 total points. Legend Geeter had a crucial all-around game in what was arguably his best performance of the season thus far, netting six points, grabbing nine boards and dishing out five assists. Their improved play on both ends of the floor in the last few games has been an encouraging sight to see for the Titan faithful.
Titans’ leader Orlando Lovejoy himself spoke about the improved play from the team:
“I think we’re starting to figure things out and find our groove, have more team chemistry and knowing our personnel and who can do what.”
Lovejoy is someone whose scoring numbers have fluctuated a bit this season so far, mainly because he doesn’t have to be called upon to carry as much of the load on that side of the ball, but he’s still always having an incredible all-around impact. He’s swiped at least one steal in every game in the young campaign and has recorded four or more assists in 6-of-9 games. The senior talked about the pride he has on making an impact in every facet of the game:
“The most important thing to me is winning. I’ve talked to coach [Montgomery] and this year we have more scoring, so I don’t always need to score as many points for us to win games, so whatever I have to do, even just the little things, in order for us to win, I do.”
Next Up
Detroit Mercy has another Horizon League road contest awaiting them tomorrow when they take on Purdue Fort Wayne. The first tip in the Memorial Coliseum will be at 5pm. Next, they have a six-day break between games before they return home to face non D1 opponent Siena Heights on Saturday, December 20th. That game will be at 1pm in Calihan Hall. The Titans look to continue their three-game game win streak and build upon their now 4-6 record.
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