Men's Basketball Stymied at Southern NH, Falls 70-63
MANCHESTER, NH- The Merrimack men's basketball team dropped a 70-63 decision to Southern New Hampshire Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The Warriors sink to 6-4 on the season and 3-4 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Penmen rise to 5-4 overall and 3-4 in league play.
Aaron Strothers (Wareham, MA) paced Merrimack with 26 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Wayne Mack (Paterson, NJ) contributed 13 points, three boards and four steals while Wilfredo Pagan (Lawrence, MA) finished with a career-high 10 points. Kevin Regan (Philadelphia, PA) provided five points off the bench and matched a career-best with nine rebounds.
After the Penmen scored on its opening possession, the Warriors responded with a basket from Strothers to tie the game at 2-2. Strothers pulled down an offensive board before banking it in for the visitors' first points of the afternoon.
Josh Morgan-Green sank a wide-open trey from the right corner to give Southern NH a 13-5 lead after 6:45 of action in the opening frame.
Merrimack sliced the deficit to eight, 25-17, with 7:05 left to play in the first as Strothers dropped in his 14th point on the game off of a dish from Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY).
A floater from Mack pulled the Warriors to within 12 of the Penmen, 33-21, with just over a minute remaining.
After tenacious defense from Merrimack caused a turnover, the senior captain cut into the hosts' lead as his finger-roll made it a 10-point margin.
Pagan connected on his first field goal late in the first half as he drained a triple to inch the Warriors closer to Southern NH, 35-26. The three-pointer was Merrimack's first good basket from behind the arc in the game.
The Penmen gripped to the nine-point edge at halftime. Merrimack shot 37% through the opening 20 minutes of play while the home team sported a field goal percentage of 44.4% at the break.
Strothers led the visiting side with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Mike Clifford (Danvers, MA) and Mack each contributed four points in the first half while Regan grabbed five rebounds.
The two teams traded baskets to open the second stanza. Strothers closed the gap to seven with a put-back jam following a missed layup by Davis.
The Penmen answered with a three-pointer from Lucas Croteau on their next trip down the court.
Five quick points by the Warriors made it a four point game, 42-38. Pagan sank his second three of the day and Tyler Young (Brooklyn, NY) netted his first bucket of the contest.
Southern NH restored its 10-point lead as CJ Marriro rolled in a layup with 14:26 left to play, 48-38.
An alley-oop from Regan to Strothers shrank Merrimack's deficit to nine, 53-44, with 9:46 remaining in regulation.
The Warriors drew the score to 53-46 with eight minutes to go as Mack deposited a fade-away jumper from just inside the paint.
After a steal by Strothers, Pagan scored a fast-break layup and drew a foul. The senior converted the three-point play the old-fashion way to bring Merrimack to within seven, 57-50, with 5:03 to go.
The Warriors inched closer to the Penmen they trailed by just four, 59-55, with four minutes to play as Strothers sank a pair of free throws.
Regan came up with a rejection on the defensive end as Southern NH threatened with an odd-man rush. Mack drained a pull-up jumper to cut Merrimack's deficit to two, 59-57, with 3:43 remaining.
Following four-straight points by the hosts, Regan tallied a lay-in to restore the four-point gap. After Regan missed a resulting free throw, Strothers threw the offensive rebound back to Davis who drew a foul. The senior guard hit one free throw to make it a three-point contest, 63-60, with 2:04 showing on the clock.
The Warriors trailed by six with one minute left to play, 66-60. Davis' three-point attempt on the visitors' next possession rattled around the rim and bounced out, keeping Merrimack six points off.
Regan buried a trey with just under 22 seconds left to minimize the gap to 68-63.
The Warriors edged the Penmen on the glass, claiming a 44-43 advantage highlighted by a 20-12 margin in offensive rebounds.
Merrimack shot 35% from the field in the game while Southern NH finished with a 46% field goal percentage. The Warriors connected on just three attempts from long range on 22 attempts and 10-of-21 from the charity stripe in the loss.
Merrimack will open the 2012 portion of the schedule with a home contest against Adelphi January 3. The Warriors will return to Bert Hammel Court for the first time since November 22.
