Mency Shoots Men's Basketball Past Assumption, 88-78

1/9/2010 12:00:00 AM

NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Two short of his career-high, junior Dee Mency (Hagerstown, MD) scored 32 points, including 22 in the first, to lift Merrimack past Assumption College on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Merrimack improved to 9-3 (7-2 NE-10) overall and won their eighth straight contest, the longest streak in program history since 1999-00 when head coach Bert Hammel's team won nine straight on the way to a Conference title.

Senior captain Darren Duncan (Briarwood, NY) chipped in 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while assisting on nine Merrimack baskets.

1st Half
With an early 10-4 lead and eight point advantage midway through the first half, Assumption conceded their lead following a 17-7 run by the Warriors, sparked by a pair of triples from Mency.

Electrifying the crowd with a dunk to cap a 23-9 run to end the first half, Mency scored a season-high 22 first half points, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

In addition to shooting 59% from the field, Merrimack out-rebounded the Greyhounds 21-17 and scored nine points off turnovers.

2nd Half
The Warriors came out firing in the second half using a 13-2 run engineered by multiple feeds from Duncan to teammates Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY) and Mency.

Assumption did not roll over as the visitors made a late run to cut the Merrimack lead to 10 with 1:55 to play. Greyhound Savoy Fraine scored a team-high 19 points in just 25 minutes, while Ronson Quick came off the bench to score 13 points and grab seven points in 14 minutes.

Despite five Greyhounds in double figures and a 41-36 rebounding advantage, the Warriors used 53% shooting from the field and 60% from beyond the arc to pull off the win.

Following the game, Hammel spoke of the eighth straight win.

“It was a solid win, but there were still lapses at times” Hammel said. “We have relied on some good outside shooting, but our rebounding and interior toughness needs to continue to improve.”

The Warriors return to action on Tuesday, January 12 at 7:30pm when they travel to Le Moyne College and reigning Player of the Year, Laurence Ekperigan, to take on the Dolphins in Conference play.