Davis and Duncan Drive Men's Basketball to Road Win at New Haven
WEST HAVEN, CT – One free throw short of his career-high
of 22 points, sophomore Roland Davis (Deer
Park, NY) powered the Merrimack men's basketball
team to a 80-70 road win at New Haven Saturday afternoon.
Improving to 14-4 (12-3 NE-10) with the win, Merrimack remains
behind #12 Bentley and Stonehill in the Northeast-10 Conference,
with a match-up against the Falcons on Wednesday in Waltham at
7:30pm.
In the game, senior captain Darren Duncan
(Briarwood, NY) scored 23 points to lead all scorers while
extending the all-time Northeast-10 Conference free throws made
mark to 653 with 11-of-14 from the line. Duncan turned up his
performance in the second half after going scoreless from the field
in the first half. Duncan also tied a career-high with seven
steals on the afternoon as part of 20 Charger turnovers.
With 1,848 career points after 23 on Saturday, Duncan now eyes
fourth all-time on the scoring list (Paul Neal: 1,922) heading into
the final eight regular season games in the month of February.
In the first half, Davis knocked down 3-of-6 from deep as part of
14 points, but New Haven's C.J. Ruskay had 14 of his own to
pace the Chargers. Senior Craig Woehnker
(Colts Neck, NJ) scored six of his nine points in the
first half on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, including one of
Merrimack's five threes.
Although the home team shot 6-of-9 from three-point range, 17
first half turnovers hampered the Chargers offense to leave them at
a deficit of seven (39-32) at the break. The Chargers shot
9-of-20 in the game after entering the game as the second worst
three-point shooting team in the Conference (29%).
"You have to give New Haven credit for their good shooting, but
we need to adjust on the fly when a team is shooting that well,"
said head coach Bert Hammel following the
team's 13th win in 14 contests. "We did play well on the
defense end for the most part and that will certainly be tested on
Wednesday against Bentley."
Picking up in the second half where he left off in the first,
Davis scored four quick points, but New Haven opened up with a
22-13 run sparked by 11 points from Robert Jamerson to take their
first lead of the game at 11:49, 54-52.
The advantage would only be momentary as New Haven's Cassius
Chaney gave the Chargers their final lead midway through the half
(10:50), 56-54. A 20-8 run by the Warriors and 19 second half
points from Duncan lifted Merrimack to 11-0 on the season when
scoring at least 80 points.
With help from sophomore Aaron
Strothers' (Wareham, MA) 7-of-7 from the foul
line, Merrimack shot 82% (22-27) in the game to seal the 10-point
win. On the year, Merrimack is 6-1 when games are decided by
10-plus points. Their only loss in that category came on November
18, 2009 against the very Falcons they face on Wednesday.
The Warriors next outing will be a clash with #12 Bentley
University, who currently sits atop the Northeast-10 Conference and
has won 13 straight. The last meeting saw the Warriors fall at home
in the season-opener (Nov. 18), 72-56.
