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Detroit Mercy basketball two wins away from NCAA tournament bid

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Detroit Mercy basketball two wins away from NCAA tournament bid



UDM is two wins away from its first NCAA tournament berth since 2012.

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Calling what Detroit Mercy basketball has done this season a resurgence may be an undersell.

UDM (16-14, 12-8 Horizon), the No. 3-seed in the Horizon League Tournament, is playing No. 2 Robert Morris (22-10, 13-7) in the conference semifinals at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis on Monday, March 9. The game is scheduled to tip off at 9:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN2.

For a team that went 8-24 in the 2024-25 season, and a program-worst 1-31 in 2023-24, that the Titans are just two wins away from an NCAA Tournament appearance represents nothing short of a rebirth. That possibility looked distant even on Jan. 24, when a 95-87 loss to rival Oakland brought the Titans to 8-12 overall.

Watch Horizon League tournament on Fubo

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But UDM responded by winning seven of its last nine regular-season games, including a 95-89 win against Oakland at the O’Rena to secure the team’s first 16-win season since 2016.

“We all found out who we were as players and as people. So now we know what positions to put the right people in at the right time,” said Titans senior point guard Orlando Lovejoy of the team’s late-season surge. “Once we figured that out, it was game on.”

The Detroit native Lovejoy has put up exceptional numbers in his senior season with the Titans, putting up a career-high 33 points in a 74-70 win over Green Bay on Feb. 22 and 29 points on 13-for-16 shooting against Oakland in the regular-season finale.

“He scores in phases. He can score on the fast break, he can post up, he can get to his spots,” said UDM coach Mark Montgomery. “He also brings the, ‘Gimme the ball in the biggest moments, and I’ll take over.’”

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Lovejoy might have to take over more than usual against a tough Robert Morris team. The Colonials are the defending Horizon League champions and have beaten the Titans twice this year, with an 85-77 win in Detroit on March 2 and a 73-62 win at home on Feb. 25.

“We turned the ball over in key moments in those games, and then we have to keep them off the offensive glass,” said Montgomery of the Colonials. “We’re gonna get down to Indy, we’re going to enjoy a day, and then we’re going to lock in and know it’s one-and-done time.”

As for Lovejoy, who only gets four tickets to give to friends and family for the upcoming game, he expects to have a big travelling crowd to support him and the local team.

“I don’t know who I’m not bringing to Indianapolis,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of people coming to support as they did ever since I started playing basketball.”

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Detroit Mercy basketball time vs Robert Morris in Horizon League semifinal

  • Date: Monday, March 9.
  • Time: 9:30 p.m. ET.
  • Location: Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis.

UDM is looking for its fourth conference tournament win and first since 2012.

Detroit Mercy basketball channel vs Robert Morris in Horizon League semifinal

  • Tipoff: 9:30 p.m. ET.
  • Channel: ESPN2.
  • Streaming: Fubo.

Monday’s Horizon League semifinal game featuring UDM and Robert Morris will be televised on ESPN2 and can be streamed on Fubo, which carries ESPN channels.

Watch Detroit Mercy-Robert Morris on Fubo

Horizon League tournament results

  • Play-in: No. 11 Cleveland State 101, No. 10 IU Indianapolis 93.
  • First round: No. 5 Green Bay 64, No. 6 Purdue.
  • First round: No. 1 Wright State 90, No. 10 Cleveland State 61.
  • First round: No. 2 Robert Morris 68, Youngstown State 53.
  • First round: No. 3 UDM 84, No. 8 Milwaukee 63.
  • First round: No. 7 Northern Kentucky 85, No. 4 Oakland 84.
  • Sunday, March 8, Second round: No. 5 Green Bay vs No. 7 Northern Kentucky, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+).
  • Monday, March 9, Semifinal: No. 1 Wright State vs TBD, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU).
  • Monday, March 9, Semifinal: No. 2 Robert Morris vs No. 3 UDM, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
  • Tuesday, March 10, Final: TBD vs TBD, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN).

Detroit Mercy NCAA tournament history

UDM hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since the 2011-12 season and has only made the tournament six times in program history..

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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.



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Detroit, MI

Detroit shines red for ALS kickoff & lighting ceremony

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Detroit shines red for ALS kickoff & lighting ceremony


DETROIT, MICH (WXYZ) — In partnership with The ALS Association, downtown Detroit parks will shine red May 10–16 in recognition of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) Awareness month.

A special kickoff event will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, in Campus Martius Park. The event will allow families impacted by ALS to connect, learn about upcoming initiatives, and take part in a meaningful “END ALS” photo moment under the illuminated park lights.

You can reserve you spot by visiting:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JlhGrOr9-kWQmmR_rZc61S9MfqDjPeBKvKV5YBqkMypUQThNMEs5TVpLRUY5R1FLV0o1WFExN1U4Uy4u





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Detroit Tigers lose fifth straight, Kerry Carpenter injured

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Detroit Tigers lose fifth straight, Kerry Carpenter injured


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Kansas City, Mo. — The losing streak is now five games. The road record is now an MLB-worst 6-16.

The Kansas City Royals prolonged the Tigers’ misery Saturday night with a relatively breezy 5-1 win at Kauffman Stadium.

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Oh, and the Tigers might’ve lost another player in the process.

Right fielder Kerry Carpenter left the game in the third inning. He banged his left shoulder running into the side wall chasing Bobby Witt Jr.’s first-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run.

Witt, a right-handed hitter, sliced a drive inside the bag at first. Carpenter chased it toward the side wall, but the ball caromed past him. Witt never stopped running.

Carpenter stayed in the game and even rolled an infield single in the second inning. But he was replaced by Wenceel Perez when the Royals came to bat in the third inning.

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BOX SCORE: Royals 5, Tigers 1

He was being evaluated during the game.

The two-run homer by Witt ended up being more than the Tigers’ sputtering offense could overcome. But, for good measure, Michael Massey added a three-run home run off Ty Madden in the fourth inning.

Madden ended up being one of the few bright spots in the game for the Tigers. He pitched six innings and allowed just one other hit. He set down the last 11 hitters he faced.

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He entered in the third inning after opener Burch Smith and lefty Tyler Holton worked one time through the Royals’ batting order.

Holton made a nifty escape in the first inning. With runners at second and third and one out, and two runs already in, Jac Caglianone hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Zach McKinstry, who was playing in on the grass.

McKinstry got the out at first. The runner at second, Carter Jensen, mistakenly broke for third where Vinnie Pasquantino was holding.

Spencer Torkelson threw to shortstop Kevin McGonigle who threw to catcher Jake Rogers once Pasquantino broke for home — your basic 4-3-6-2 double-play.

Not much else went the Tigers’ way.

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Royals right-hander Michael Wacha snuffed out the few scoring opportunities the Tigers mustered.

He worked around an error and a McKinstry stolen base in the third innings. He got Jake Rogers to pop to shallow right field with runners at first and third and one out and then got Matt Vierling to ground out with the bases loaded in the fifth.

 Wacha allowed two hits in seven innings. The Tigers put 18 balls in play against him with a soft average exit velocity of 84.4 mph.  

The Tigers broke through in the eighth against lefty reliever Matt Strahm. And it was left-handed hitters who did the dirty work. Riley Greene, who extended his career-high on-base streak to 20 games, doubled home McGonigle.

This season is a long way from over but Tigers, 18-22, are in serious need a course correction.

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Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky



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Patchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend

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Patchy dense fog turns to stronger thunderstorms for Metro Detroit to start the weekend


4Warn WeatherSATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.

SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.

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MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.


After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.

That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.

Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.

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Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.

Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.

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