Woehnker Wills Warriors Over UMass-Lowell
LOWELL, MA – Snapping a three-game skid to start the month
of February, the Merrimack men's basketball team bounced back
with a 93-88 win at UMass-Lowell to remain third in the
Northeast-10 Conference standings.
The Warriors improved to 15-7 (13-6 NE-10), while the River Hawks
drop a game back in Conference play, 12-7 (15-7 overall). Merrimack
also improved to 12-0 when scoring at least 80 points and 3-0 when
scoring 90-plus.
Smashing his previous career-high of 13 in the first half alone
with 17 points off the bench, senior Craig Woehnker (Colts
Neck, NJ) helped Merrimack to a 48-40 lead heading into
the locker room at the break.
After a drought of four minutes to start the game, sophomore
Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY) cut the River Hawks
lead in half with a three after the Warriors missed their first
eight attempts.
The Warriors would go on a 16-0 run backed by a trio of threes and
capped by a pair of free throws from senior captain Darren
Duncan (Briarwood, NY). In the half, Duncan would go
6-of-6 from the stripe (10-of-10 in game) and the Warriors would
hit 16 of their next 23 attempts from the field.
In the best half of his career, Woehnker scored 17 points, hitting
his first six shots, including 5-of-5 from deep. In the first half,
Merrimack shot a blistering 53% (9-of-17) from beyond the arc,
surpassing their Conference-leading per game average of 8.3 on the
year.
Merrimack also scored 17 points off nine River Hawk miscues while
out-doing Lowell in the paint, 12-8 in the first half.
In the second half, Merrimack led by no less than 10 after taking
a 52-42 leading 2:26 into the second half. Mency scored 14 of his
team-high 19 points in the second half, including back-to-back
threes midway through the second to give the Warriors a 20 point
cushion.
For the last 4:09, Lowell was without the Northeast-10's
leading scorer (21.7 ppg), Kyle Caiola, after he fouled out on a
technical following his fourth personal. In the game, the sophomore
poured in 18 points on 8-of-22 from the field.
The Warriors were not without foul trouble of their own as Duncan
fouled out on a player control foul with 1:53 to play. By that
time, the Warriors sported a 12 point cushion they would not give
up despite an 14-4 River Hawks run during the last four minutes of
play.
For the Warriors, five were in double figures, all of which scored
at least 14 points.
The Warriors return to action on Wednesday, February 17 at
Franklin Pierce University for a 7:30pm tip-off in Rindge, New
Hampshire. Earlier in the year, Merrimack took down the Ravens
87-71 in North Andover behind a season-high 32 points from Duncan.
