Men's Hoops Edged by Adelphi, 58-57
GARDEN CITY, N.Y.- The Merrimack men's basketball team dropped a 58-57 narrow decision to Adelphi Saturday afternoon. The Warriors sink to 9-5 overall and 5-5 in the Northeast-10 conference with the loss. The Panthers improved to 10-5 on the year and 6-5 in league action.
Dee Mency (Hagerstown, Md.) tallied a game-high 27 points and added nine rebounds for Merrimack. Wayne Mack (Paterson, N.J.) was the only other Warrior in double-figures with 16 points. Aaron Strothers (Wareham, Mass.) added seven points and 10 boards in the loss.
After a tight start to the game, Merrimack strung together a 13-2 run to gain a 14-point lead with nine minutes left to play in the opening period.
Adelphi scratched away at the Warriors' advantage and came within four points heading into the final minutes of the first half. Merrimack extended its lead to eight at the break as the score was 32-24 in favor of the visitors.
The Warriors' owned the lead throughout the second half but the Panthers hung in and didn't allow Merrimack to gain a sizeable margin.
As the game began to wind down, Adelphi made their move as it turned into a one-possession game. A lay-in by Wilfredo Pagan (Lawrence, Mass.) pushed Merrimack's advantage to six. David Akinyooye knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Panthers' deficit to three with five minutes remaining.
After a Mency sank a jumper, a lay-up and a pair of good free throws shrank the Warriors' edge to one point with under three minutes remaining in the contest.
Richard Byrd converted the go-ahead layup with 53 seconds on the clock to give Adelphi a 58-57 lead.
Following a missed free throw by Byrd with eight seconds on the clock, Merrimack had one last opportunity to win the game. Mack had his jumper bounce off the iron and out as time expired.
"We played hard today but this one slipped through our hands," said head coach Bert Hammel.
The Warriors shot 38.2% from the floor and 33% from three-point land. The Panthers managed to sink 34% of their field goal attempts on the day. Merrimack outrebounded Adelphi by a 42-36 margin.
The Warriors will head back to New York January 19 for a Northeast-10 Conference game against Saint Rose.
