Men's Basketball Reaches Ten Straight with Win over Adelphi
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Senior captain Darren Duncan
(Briarwood, NY) scored 31 points for the Merrimack men's
basketball team on their way to a tenth straight win Saturday
afternoon over Adelphi University, 82-74.
Duncan also moved into 13th all-time on the NCAA Division II
assist list with eight on the afternoon and 727 in his career, four
short of Saint Anselm's Pat Delaney '03 (731).
In all, five Warriors scored in double figures, including senior
Jared
Brownlee (Portland, ME), who chipped in 12 points and
five boards in 16 minutes off the bench.
The Warriors improved to 11-3 (9-2 NE-10) on the year with the
win, to remain in a tie with Bentley for second place behind
Stonehill College (12-3, 9-1 NE-10).
Adelphi lost their third straight contest in Conference play to
fall to 14-4 (7-4 NE-10) after having run off nine straight earlier
in the year.
1st Half
Jumping out to a 13-4 lead 3:38 into the contest, Merrimack used
6-of-10 shooting from long range to gain a 38-28 halftime cushion.
Duncan and junior Dee Mency (Hagerstown,
MD) combined for four (two each) of the Warriors first
half threes. Mency finished the game with 11 points and
3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Panthers cut the lead to as few as four with 8:49 on a Casey
Cosgrove three-pointer, but nine Adelphi turnovers led to eight
Merrimack points.
The Warriors also out-rebounded the visitors, 18-12, in the
first half, only the second time they have led in that category at
the half this season. Merrimack would go on to win the battle on
the glass, 37-33, as Duncan and sophomore Roland Davis (Deer
Park, NY) each pulled down six boards.
Shooting 44% from the line in the first half, the Warriors
started 1-of-5 and finished the half 4-of-9 despite shooting 75% on
the year, good for third in the Northeast-10 entering Saturday's
contest.
On the night, Merrimack rebounded to shoot 66% (21-of-32) from
the charity stripe.
2nd Half
Shrinking the halftime deficit of 10 to two in just 2:30, the
Panthers ran off a 10-2 run behind three of Cosgrove's team-high 19
points.
The Warriors responded with seven quick points and did not trail
in the second half on their way to a ninth straight Conference win.
Despite losing the battle in the paint (30-22), Merrimack shot
11-of-22 from beyond the arc to improve to 8-0 when scoring at
least 80 points this season.
"Adelphi is a solid team that showed some toughness down the
stretch," said head coach Bert
Hammel following a win that capped the longest win
streak in his tenure. "Our guys worked hard on defense and on
the glass, which shows signs of improvement, so I think we can
certainly build off that."
The Warrior men return to the court at home against the College
of Saint Rose (9-6, 6-4 NE-10) on Wednesday, January 16 at 7:30pm.
