Davis Ignites Warriors in Conference Tournament Tune-Up at New Haven
WEST HAVEN, CT - In a non-Conference game at New Haven, the
Merrimack men's basketball team came away with their fourth
straight win Monday night at Charger Gymnasium in West Haven,
Connecticut, 91-86.
Remaining 15-6 in Conference play (18-7 overall), the Warriors
are and will remain idle in the Conference standings at No. 3
regardless of how the season unfolds against Southern New Hampshire
on Wednesday at 7:30pm in Volpe Gym. This means a matchup
with the winner of the #6/#11 play-in game on Saturday, February
27th.
The decision by head coach Bert Hammel to bring
Roland
Davis (Deer Park, NY) off the bench in the last three
contests has proved to pay dividends with the sophomore averaging
21.0 points and connecting on a total of 11-of-18 three-pointers
after an even 21 on Monday.
In addition to being tabbed with the defensive assignment of the
230-pound Cassius Chaney, senior captain Darren Duncan
(Briarwood, NY) scored 19 points and dished eight assists
to move within four of 800 for his career.
In the early going, junior Dee Mency (Hagerstown,
MD) scored the Warriors first seven points and 10 of the
first 12 including a pair of three-pointers to gain a 12-8
lead. Mency would finish with a double-double on a team-high
23 points and 11 boards.
Midway through the half, Davis swiped a Charger pass before
finding classmate Wayne Mack (Paterson,
NJ) for an easy lay in that capped a 10-2 Warrior run
(that evolved into an 18-5 run) and put all seven participating
Warriors in the scoring column at the 8:49 mark.
A 12-1 run by the Chargers over the ensuing four minutes cut the
lead to two (36-34) before sophomore Aaron Strothers
(Wareham, MA) tipped in an offensive rebound as part of
team-high 11 first half points to regain a four point
cushion. New Haven would take a 39-38 lead on Shawn Ustunel's
only basket of the half, but Duncan tipped in a missed three to
answer, giving the Warriors a 40-39 halftime lead.
After New Haven grabbed an early three point lead in the second
half, Davis responded with five straight points to orchestrate a
10-0 Warrior run.
A Kingsley Aguh layup knotted the score at 58 with 11:59 to play
but Duncan's second and third three and Davis' third and fourth
triple gave way to a 74-66 lead four minutes later.
Cassius Chaney (25 points, 15 rebounds) would bring the Chargers
even at 80 with a three at 3:20, but the Warriors' 12th
three and Duncan's fourth served as a quick rebuttal.
Closing out the road win, 91-86, Merrimack improved to 14-0 when
scoring at least 80 points this season.
The Warriors conclude the regular season against Southern New
Hampshire on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30pm on 'Senior
Night' when seniors Jared
Brownlee (Portland, ME), Jeff
Hansbury (Plaistow, NH), Craig Woehnker
(Colts Neck, NJ) and Duncan will be honored before tipoff.
