With his team leading 78-75 with under 20 seconds to play, senior Badou Gaye made a key steal then hit one of two free-throws help the Griffins to their fourth straight win.
Gaye finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Chris DelBrocco scored 20 points and dished out six assists.
Gwynedd-Mercy (6-1) opened up a 43-31 lead at the half before the Devils climbed back in the contest using a 13-2 run midway in the second.
FDU-Florham (4-4) tied it 55-55 on a layup by Jeff Hemschoot with 11 minutes to play and teammate Chris Hendershot scored the next four points as the Devils took a four-point lead. Hemschoot led all scorers with 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting while Hendershot added 21 points and nine boards.
Senior Anthony Williams’ jumper at the top of the key tied the contest for the fourth time at 61-61 with just over eight minutes remaining. From there, the Griffins took a five-point lead on a dunk from Jeff Thomas to lead 76-71 with 1:31 left. Williams scored 10 points and Thomas recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds.
As a team GMC shot 52.4% (33-of-63) and outrebounded FDU, 41-31. The Devils were 41.9% (26-of-62) shooting.
The Griffins will host Valley Forge Christian on Friday, December 10th at 7 p.m. in their last game before the winter break.
Newspaper Box Score FDU-Florham vs Gwynedd-Mercy College 12/08/04 7 p.m. at Gwynedd Valley, Pa. Griffin Complex At Gwynedd Valley, Pa. Griffin Complex GWYNEDD-MERCY COLLEGE 79, FDU-FLORHAM 75 FDU-FLORHAM (4-4) Chris Hendershot 10-18 10-10 31; Jeff Hemschoot 9-14 3-3 21; Frank Emslie 3-7 0-0 9; Cody Chalmers 2-7 3-4 9; Christopher Trotta 1-8 0-0 3; Matt Cushing 1-5 0-0 2; Nate Lawrence 0-1 0-0 0; Daniel Scaturro 0-1 0-0 0; Kevin White 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 16-17 75. GWYNEDD-MERCY COLLEGE (6-1) Badou Gaye 10-19 3-6 23; Chris DelBrocco 9-14 0-0 20; Jeff Thomas 4-6 3-5 11; Anthony Williams 5-8 0-0 10; Rashid Santiago 1-4 4-6 6; Joe Kilpatrick 2-5 0-0 4; Courtney Griffin 1-4 1-2 3; Frank Barder 1-1 0-0 2; Tom Keenan 0-1 0-0 0; Francis Bowe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-63 11-19 79. FDU-Florham................... 31 44 - 75 Gwynedd-Mercy College......... 43 36 - 79 3-point goals-FDU-Florham 7-24 (Frank Emslie 3-6; Cody Chalmers 2-7; Chris Hendershot 1-3; Christopher Trotta 1-4; Daniel Scaturro 0-1; Matt Cushing 0-3), Gwynedd-Mercy College 2-4 (Chris DelBrocco 2-3; Rashid Santiago 0-1). Fouled out--FDU-Florham-None, Gwynedd-Mercy College-None. Rebounds-FDU-Florham 31 (Jeff Hemschoot 9), Gwynedd-Mercy College 41 (Badou Gaye 10; Jeff Thomas 10). Assists-FDU-Florham 20 (Frank Emslie 9), Gwynedd-Mercy College 19 (Rashid Santiago 6; Chris DelBrocco 6). Total fouls-FDU-Florham 18, Gwynedd-Mercy College 14. A-200