Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Straight at AIC
SPRINGFIELD, MA - With 19 points from senior captain Darren Duncan
(Briarwood, NY), the Merrimack men's basketball team
extended their win streak to seven on Wednesday at American
International with a 62-57 win at the Butova Gymnasium.
The program's seven straight wins this season is the longest
since 1999-00 when Bert Hammel's team won nine
straight on their way to a Northeast-10 Tournament championship
over American International.
Without the services of the league's leading scorer (21.7ppg)
and team-leading rebounder (9.3 rpg), Isiah Wallace, the Yellow
Jackets struggled from the field (20-of-59) on their way to a
season-low 57 points-also the lowest total Merrimack has allowed to
date.
Junior Dee Mency (Hagerstown,
MD) also chipped in 13 points in a game the Warriors shot
just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc despite averaging a
Conference-best 9.2 three-pointers made per game.
"Our team rebounding isn't where it needs to be," Hammel said
after being out-rebounded for the tenth time this season on
Wednesday. "It's always good to get a win in this Conference,
but the only way we can succeed in the end is if we rebound and
play defense."
1st
Half
The Warriors offense was dormant until three minutes into the
game when Duncan found Aaron Strothers
(Wareham, MA) for an easy two before Roland Davis (Deer
Park, NY) and Mency combined for the next five points to
even the score at 7-7. Mency capped off a 9-0 scoring run at
the 15:08 mark with a dunk on the fast break from Duncan to give
Merrimack an 11-7 lead off.
A three from Craig Woehnker
(Colts Neck, NJ) and a three-point play from Jared
Brownlee
(Portland, ME) stretched the lead to seven (17-10)--where
the lead would remain for three minutes--before Wilfredo Pagan
(Lawrence, MA) buried a baseline jumper.
Capped off by a three from Duncan, Merrimack ran off a 13-0 run
to build a 24-10 lead with 9:24 to play in the half.
For a span of 7:56 in the middle of the first half, AIC went
0-of-8 from the field and turned the ball over four times before
cutting the lead to nine (24-15) with five straight points.
The Warriors would go on to score 14 points off turnovers in the
first half along with 10 points off the bench from Pagan, Woehnker
and Brownlee.
The Yellow Jackets would continue to claw away at the Warriors
lead, scoring the final five points to make the halftime lead only
four (30-26).
2nd
Half
Quickly erasing the halftime lead, AIC scored another quick five
points to take a 31-30 lead in the first two minutes, but a 9-0 run
as a result of Warrior full-court pressure gave Merrimack a 41-34
lead at 12:55.
Through the first ten minutes of the second half, AIC shot
4-of-20 from the field to prevent an early Yellow Jacket run, but
the home team climbed to within four at 4:59 with a baby
hook from AIC's leading scorer, Aikeem Vanderhorst (19 points),
and a three from Byron Richards (17 points).
With a costly foul from Duncan at the 2:24 mark, Byron Richards
converted on a four-point play to cut the lead to two (56-54)
before a three-point answer from Mency as time expired on the shot
clock.
Following a foul by Richards on Davis that disqualified him from
play, the Warrior converted on 1-of-2 free throws in the bonus with
one minute to play to give Merrimack a four-point cushion.
A missed jumper in the lane from Vanderhorst while trailing by
three was the last chance the Yellow Jackets had before having to
foul Duncan who sank two free throws to arrive at the final of
62-57.
Merrimack returns to action on Saturday at home following a
two-game road to face the Greyhounds of Assumption College at
3:00pm in Volpe Gymnasium. At 7-5 (4-4 NE-10), Assumption is
coming off an 84-72 loss against UMass-Lowell on Wednesday.
