Merrimack Takes Down Franklin Pierce; Duncan Ranks Third Among Merrimack Scorers
RINDGE, NH - Senior captain Darren Duncan
(Briarwood, NY) led the Warriors to a 76-59 win Wednesday
evening at Franklin Pierce with 25 points while becoming the
third-leading scorer in Merrimack men's basketball history.
His 1,923rd point came on a tip-in with 1:30 to play
enabling him to pass Paul Neal '91 at 1,922 career points.
Duncan sank 5-of-8 threes and shot 9-of-16 in the game to
improve his season average to 18.8 points per game.
With the win, Merrimack improves to 16-7 (14-6 NE-10) to remain
in third place with two regular season Conference games
remaining. Franklin Pierce falls to 11-14 (6-14 NE-10) with
the loss.
On the evening, junior Dee Mency (Hagerstown,
MD) recorded a double-double of 11 points and a
career-high 15 rebounds, besting his previous high of 14 at Pace
last year.
Coming off the bench for the first time this year, sophomore
Roland
Davis (Deer Park, NY) scored 15 points in the first
half on 6-of-9 shooting and 3-of-4 from three point range. In
the game, Davis scored 18, on 7-of-11 from the field.
Through the first half, a 17-5 advantage in bench scoring for
the Warriors led to a 43-30 lead for the visitors. With eight
threes in the first half, Merrimack nearly matched their
Conference-best season average (8.4) in 20 minutes for the second
straight game. They finished the game 13-of-29 from long
range, while limiting Franklin Pierce to 21% (6-of-29) from three.
In the first half, Duncan accounted for 10 points and four
assists. With eight assists on the night and 781, Duncan
became the ninth all-time leader in Division II, passing Dan Ward
'95 of St. Cloud State. He now needs five more helpers to
move into eighth all-time.
In the second half, the Warriors offense floundered as the
Ravens went on a 13-0 run to start the half before a three from
Duncan provided a 46-43 cushion. Another three by Duncan and
one from senior Craig Woehnker
(Colts Neck, NJ) pushed the lead to seven (52-45) at the
12:57 mark to give Merrimack some breathing room en route to a
33-29 second half.
For only the fourth time this season (3-1), Merrimack's bench
out-scored the opposition thanks in large part to the efforts of
Davis. In addition to the 20-7 advantage by the reserves,
Merrimack cashed in on 11 fast break points on the evening.
The Warriors return to action on Saturday, February
20th when they host Saint Michael's College at 3:00pm in
the Volpe Gym. On December 5 in Colchester, Merrimack took
down Saint Michael's 80-56.
