Men's Basketball Clipped by Stonehill in Overtime, 73-64
EASTON, MA- The Merrimack men's basketball team suffered a 73-64 overtime-loss at Stonehill in the 103rd meeting between the two squads Sunday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium. The Warriors fall to 4-3 on the year and 1-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Skyhawks rise to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in league action with the win.
Wayne Mack (Paterson, NJ) scored a game-high 23 points and added 11 rebounds to register his second double-double of the season. Tyler Young (Brooklyn, NY) posted his first double-double on the year with 10 points and 10 boards. Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY) finished the contest with 11 points while Aaron Strothers (Wareham, MA) poured in 10 for Merrimack.
Merrimack took a 9-7 lead as Mack drained a three-pointer as the shot clock expired with 12 minutes remaining.
The Skyhawks leveled the score at 11-11, the fifth tie of the first half.
Adam Marshall (Kent, England) gave the Warriors a two-point edge with under 10 minutes to play in the opening frame as he sank a jumper with his first touch of the day.
On an odd-man rush, Davis threaded a no-look pass to Young flying down the lane. Young easily finished the layup to give Merrimack a 17-11 lead with 4:17 remaining until halftime.
Good ball movement set up Young for his second-straight layup to push the score to 19-13. Mack bounced a pass to Davis slicing across the top of the key before the senior dished it to Marshall at the baseline. Marshall quickly moved the ball to Young under the hoop for the lay-in.
Mack put the Warriors ahead by nine with just under two minutes left to play in the first period. Mack converted a fast-break layup to extend the visitors' lead to 24-15.
Merrimack carried a 24-17 lead into the halftime intermission.
Mack led the Warriors at the break with seven points while Young finished the half with seven rebounds and six points.
The visitors shot 30.3% from the field in the opening frame while holding the hosts to 23.5% shooting.
A five-point run by the Skyhawks cut Merrimack's lead to three points, 30-27 in the opening minutes of the second stanza.
A layup by Strothers restored the Warriors' five-point advantage with 16:19 left to play.
Stonehill grabbed their second lead of the game with 14:16 remaining as Sam Markle netted a layup to push it to 33-32.
The Skyhawks' advantage did not last as Mack sank a layup to give the Warriors the lead back. Mack extended Merrimack's margin to 36-33 with a tip-in off of a missed shot from Strothers.
Davis increased the gap to five points as he banked in a layup with 12:44 left to go.
Young lifted his total to eight points on the afternoon with a dunk to give Merrimack a 48-41 lead with 9:22 to go in the game. Wilfredo Pagan (Lawrence, MA) attacked the paint before dishing the ball to Young for the two-handed jam.
Following a Stonehill trey, Strothers sank a bucket to push the gap to six points in favor of the Warriors.
The Skyhawks closed the margin to three with 6:31 remaining, 52-49. A pair of jumpers by Mack restored the Warriors' lead to seven.
A 7-0 clip by the home team brought the score to 58-58 with 2.4 ticks left on the clock, sending it to overtime.
Merrimack tied up the game at 64-64 with just under two minutes to play in the first overtime session.
A three by Andre Tongo gave Stonehill a 67-64 advantage. Patrick Lee scored a jumper to extended the hosts' lead to five.
Tongo sank a pair of free throws to further the Skyhawks' edge to seven, 71-64.
The Warriors finished the game with a field goal percentage of 40% while shooting 16% from downtown. Stonehill shot 36% from the floor in the game and 25% from three-point range.
The two squads concluded the contest even with 47 rebounds.
Up next, Merrimack will visit Saint Anselm for a midweek conference tilt November 30 at 7:30.
