Men's Hoops Drops 71-62 Decision at Saint Michael's
COLCHESTER, Vt.- Despite a 26-point performance by Dee Mency (Hagerstown, Md.), the Merrimack men's basketball team suffered a 71-62 loss to Saint Michael's Thursday evening at the Ross Center. The Warriors fall to 11-11 overall and 7-11 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the loss. The Purple Knights move to 11-11 on the year and 9-9 in league action with the victory.
With his 26 points, Mency moved past Paul Neal and into sole possession of fifth-place on the all-time career scoring list with 1,938 points.
Wayne Mack (Paterson, N.J.) finished with 11 points on the night for Merrimack. Adam Marshall (Kent, England) posted a career-high 10 points in the game. Aaron Strothers (Wareham, Mass.) scored eight and Tyler Young (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added four .
The two teams traded buckets through the first five minutes of action with the game all knotted up at 10-10.
Following a turnover by the Purple Knights, Mency drained a three from the left wing to tie the score at 13-13. The senior connected on his second three of the game to grant the Warriors their first lead of the night, 16-13. Mack netted a trey from the top of the key to extend Merrimack's advantage to six, 19-13.
A 7-0 run by the home team leveled the score at 19-19 with 8:30 remaining in the opening period of play.
Young stopped the run and restored the Warriors' lead to two with a jumper. Saint Michael's jumped back on top, 22-21, on a made three-pointer by Nate Birr.
Mency dropped in a basket from the right wing to push Merrimack ahead by one with seven minutes to go, 23-22. Strothers added two points on to the lead by converting a layup off of a no-look pass by Young under the hoop as the Warriors owned a 25-22 edge.
The Purple Knights battled back and reclaimed the lead 32-30 on a trey by Travis Warech with 2:40 showing on the clock.
Adam Marshall evened the score at 32-32 with a lay-in before Birr would push Saint Michael's ahead by two on a reverse lay-up. Strothers hit a jump shot from the free throw line with 35 seconds left to play to tie the game at 34-34.
Birr once again put the home team on top by knocking down two free throws with nine ticks on the clock. Mack brought the game to a deadlock at 36-36 with a running bank shot from the left side as time expired.
Mack led the way with 11 points in the first frame for Merrimack. Mency and Strothers each finished the opening 20 minutes of action with eight points to their credit.
Collectively, the Warriors shot a sizzling 58% from the floor in first period of play and 44% from long distance. The Purple Knights sported a 48% field goal percentage at the end of one half of action while sinking 50% of their three-point attempts.
Saint Michael's held a slight edge in the rebounding column in the opening stanza, 14-12.
The home squad started the second half on a 7-0 run to capture a 43-36 run after four minutes had elapsed.
The largest lead of the night by either team came at the 12:41 mark, as a three-pointer gave Saint Michael's a 52-39 advantage.
The first Merrimack field goal of the second half came nine minutes after intermission as Mency picked up his 13th point of the game.
The Warriors orchestrated a 10-0 run to pull to within three points of the Purple Knights, 52-49.
Mency's sixth trey of the contest cut the visitors' deficit to one, 58-59. The senior converted a free throw to tie the score at 59-59 on the next trip down the court.
Back-to-back threes by Saint Michael's lifted it to a six-point lead with under a minute to play in regulation.
The Purple Knights converted foul shots down the stretch to seal the win.
Merrimack shot 39% from the court in the game while draining 41% from three-point range. Saint Michael's hit on 44% of its field goal attempts on the night and 40% from behind the arc.
The Purple Knights held a 42-28 advantage on the boards, including a 14-9 margin on offensive rebounds.
"We played extremely well in the first half but a slow start in the second hurt us," said head coach Bert Hammel. "The guys did a great job of battling back in the second half. We look forward to playing in front of our fans again."
The Warriors return to Volpe Gym February 12 to kick start a three-game home stand. Merrimack welcomes UMass Lowell to North Andover for a Northeast-10 clash.
