SPARKILL, N.Y. - Senior Matt Bonds (Accokeek, Md./North Point) became the 45th 1,000-point scorer in Saint Michael's College men's basketball history on Saturday, but the Purple Knights finished play at Saint Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.) College's Spartan Invitational with an 89-71 loss to Mercy (N.Y.) College in Aquinas Hall Gymnasium. Saint Michael's moves to 0-2, while the Mavericks are 1-1.

Bonds finished with 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds to push his career totals to 1,004 and 800, respectively, as he is just the eighth Purple Knight ever with at least 1,000 points and 800 boards. While shooting 8-of-10 on free throws and turning in four offensive rebounds and three assists, Bonds recorded his 1,000th point by making both freebies with 3:22 left in the opening half, as the second shot accounted for the milestone.

Sophomore Levi Holmes III (East Brunswick, N.J./Rutgers Prep) added 12 points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting and four assists, while junior point guard Colin Richey (Upton, Mass./Choate Rosemary Hall) had 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 20 minutes. Sophomore Winston Jones II (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) turned in eight points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench, and senior David Sullivan (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Saint Augustine Prep) added eight points. The Purple Knights held a 35-25 rebounding advantage, shot 50.0 percent from the floor, including 4-of-8 from deep, and connected on 17-of-23 free throws.

Senior Raphael Jennings totaled 22 points, seven assists and four steals for Mercy, shooting 10-of-11 on free throws, and graduate student Ryan Hickey had 17 points behind a 5-of-10 three-point effort. Three others were in double figures, as the Mavericks picked up 14 steals while forcing 26 turnovers in addition to shooting 50.8 percent overall and 15-of-18 at the charity stripe.

A 7-0 start by Mercy ballooned to a 13-3 lead by the time the teams reached the 15:51 mark of the opening half, but Saint Michael's returned from the first media timeout with a 12-0 run, keyed by Jones' six points and one assist. Five ties and seven lead changes occurred in a 3:33 stretch, and the Purple Knights wiped out a 24-23 deficit with a 14-2 run, as Bonds had seven points and an assist. Saint Michael's led 37-26 on his three-point play at 4:29.

From that point, the Mavericks outscored the Purple and Gold 61-34, beginning with a 25-9 run that spanned halftime - Saint Michael's led 42-40 at the intermission - and put Mercy up 51-46 at 16:14 of the second half. Sullivan responded by knocking down two free throws, but the Mavericks rattled off a 26-5 run to take their largest lead, 77-53, at 8:02. The Purple Knights never again trailed by fewer than 15 points, reaching an 80-65 margin on two more Sullivan freebies with 4:24 left.

The Purple Knights return home for their first contest in the Ross Sports Center and their opening Northeast-10 Conference game on Wednesday against Franklin Pierce University at 7:30 p.m.