GAMEDAY CENTRAL

DETROIT (12/16/12) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will hit the road to take part in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic on Monday, Dec. 17 as the Titans visit No. 3/3 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2. Doris Burke and John Saunders will call the action.

CHEVROLET GOTHAM CLASSIC
Detroit will join Syracuse and Temple, two of the winningest programs in college basketball history, in the inaugural Chevrolet Gotham Classic. Along with the Titans, Orange, and Owls, Alcorn State and Canisius will also be part of the field.

The format of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic features 10 games with all five teams playing each other once. The Titans will open play at Syracuse before traveling to Mississippi to face Alcorn State on Wednesday, December 19. After the holiday break, Detroit will head to Temple to play the Owls on Friday, December 28, before concluding the Classic at home against Canisius on Sunday, December 30.

The Chevrolet Gotham Classic is produced by the Gazelle Group of Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally recognized events, such as the 2K Sports Classic, the Legends Classic, the CBI presented by Zebra Pen, and the All-American Championship. For more information on the Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through men's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets. The Game Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

LAST TIME OUT
Four Titans scored in double figures as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team extended its home winning streak to 14-straight games with an 80-73 victory over Akron Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall. The Titans also improved to 19-0 when scoring 80 or more points dating back to the 2010-11 season. Detroit (6-4) trailed 66-60 with six minutes remaining in regulation, before it used a 20-7 run to claim its fourth straight win.

Junior Ray McCallum led the way with a game-high 21 points and a team-best six assists. Jason Calliste poured in 17 points, while Juwan Howard, Jr. added 15 points and five rebounds. Nick Minnerath totaled 13 points and a team-high eight boards.

Detroit won the battle on the boards, 36-31, and forced 19 Akron turnovers, which resulted in 31 points for the Titans. Detroit also made 26-of-39 free throw attempts, including 7-of-8 in the closing minutes. The Zips did shoot 52.8 percent from the floor, while Detroit shot 42.5 percent, including 46.4 percent in the second half.

SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
This will be the sixth meeting between Detroit and Syracuse, with the Orange owning a slight 4-1 lead. Syracuse has won the last four meetings including a 66-55 victory during the 2010-11 season. Detroit's only win over the Orange came during the 1961-62 season when the Titans won, 97-69, at the Motor City Tournament.

ABOUT THE ORANGE
No. 4/4 Syracuse (9-0) used a strong second half to propel the Orange to an 85-61 victory against Canisius (6-2) on Saturday evening in the Carrier Dome. SU used a 50-point second half, while limiting the Golden Griffins to 29, to secure the triumph in the first game of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic for both teams.

Syracuse extended its home court winning streak to 29 straight games, the longest active Division I span in the nation. SU also stretched its regular-season, non-conference victory stretch to 51.

The victory was the 899th for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. Only two coaches -- Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight -- accumulated 900 wins in the Division I ranks.

Senior James Southerland led the Orange offense with 21 points, including 16 in the second half, and contributed five rebounds. Senior Brandon Triche notched 19 points, his ninth double-digit point outing of the campaign. Sophomore Michael Carter-Williams tallied his fifth consecutive game with a double-double, totaling 12 points and 14 assists. He had 13 assists after the intermission.

TITANS LOVE CALIHAN
Detroit is 6-0 this year at home and has won 14 straight games at Calihan Hall dating back to last season. The 14 game home winning streak is tied for the 10th longest in the nation. The Titans have averaged 77.8 points per game over that stretch, while only allowing opponents to score 65.2 points on Dick Vitale Court. Detroit's last loss at home came on Jan. 6, 2012 against Valparaiso, 73-71.

DETROIT LOVES THE 80's
This season the Titans are a perfect 5-0 when scoring 80 or more points and have extended their winning streak to 19 games when doing so. Last year Detroit finished undefeated (9-0) when reaching the 80-point mark. The Last time the Titans lost a game when scoring 80 points or more came at Milwaukee during the 2010-11 season, when the Panthers won in overtime 84-81.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Detroit junior Ray McCallum currently leads the Titans in three categories this season scoring (19.4 ppg), assists (4.8 apg) and steals (1.7 spg) and is also climbing up the career record board in all three. McCallum has 1,195 points (24th), 353 assist (9th) and 128 steals (14th) in his career. The last Titan to rank among the top-10 in all three of those categories was Rashad Phillips '01. Phillips finished his spectacular career with 2,319 points (1st), 548 assists (4th) and 190 steals (2nd). McCallum needs 407 points and 12 steals to reach that plateau.

McCALLUM NAMED TO THE WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50
Detroit junior guard Ray McCallum was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list, according to a release. The list recognizes the top-returning players in all of college basketball.

McCallum, the Horizon League preseason Player of the Year and first team selection for the second-straight season, was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year after he helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. McCallum led the team in scoring (15.4 ppg), assists (4.0 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) for the second-straight season.

TITANS PICKED SECOND
The UDM men's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Horizon League preseason poll voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members. The reigning HL Tournament Champions totaled 332 points – including four first-place votes – trailing only Valparaiso's 382 points and 40 first-place selections. Green Bay was picked to finish third with 283 points, while Youngstown State was fourth with 243 and Cleveland State fifth tallying 230. Rounding out the poll was Milwaukee (178), Loyola (105), UIC (96) and Wright State (86).

McCALLUM NAMED HL PRESEASON POY
Junior guard Ray McCallum was named the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year for the second-straight season, following a super sophomore year.

McCallum, the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year, helped lead the Titans to the League crown and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. He was named to the Lou Henson All-America team as well as the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) All-District First Team and the National All-Jesuit Team after a superb season that saw him become the 37th Titan to surpass 1,000 career points and the first to do it as a sophomore.

UP NEXT
Detroit will stay on the road as the Titans visit Alcorn State on Wednesday, Dec. 19 in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic. The game is scheduled to begin a 2:00 p.m. CT at the Davey L. Whitney Complex. The Titans will also visit Temple (Dec. 28) before hosting Canisius (Dec. 30) as part of the Chevrolet Gotham Classic.