Mency Scores 31 on Senior Day as Men's Hoops Tops Saint Michael's
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The Merrimack men's basketball team defeated Saint Michael's 80-68 in front of an electric crowd Saturday afternoon at the Volpe Gym. The Warriors move to 13-12 overall and 9-12 in the Northeast-10 with the win. The Purple Knights fall to 12-13 on the season and 10-11 in league play.
Dee Mency (Hagerstown, Md.), the Warriors' lone senior, scored a game-high 31 on the day that the Merrimack men's basketball program recognized its class of 2011. Aaron Strothers (Wareham, Mass.) contributed 24 points on the afternoon. Wayne Mack (Paterson, N.J) finished with nine points and 10 helpers. Tyler Young (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored eight points and pulled down 10 boards on the day.
Strothers broke a 1:30 scoreless drought to begin the game with a layup to put the Warriors up 2-0. The Purple Knights answered each Merrimack bucket with two points of their own to tie the game.
Saint Michael's first lead of the afternoon came five minutes into the contest as the visitors grabbed a one-point edge. The lead was short-lived as Strothers once again lifted Merrimack on a lay-in.
The Purple Knights erupted for a seven-point advantage halfway through the first frame, 19-12.
A 9-0 clip by the Warriors reversed the lead back in favor of the home side with five minutes left to play in the opening period. Merrimack extended the margin to eight with 2:40 remaining until halftime.
Saint Michael's closed out the half with four-consecutive point to cut the deficit to four at the midway point of the game. The Warriors tightly grasped a 32-28 lead heading into intermission.
Mency led Merrimack with 12 points through the first 20 minutes of action on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. Strothers added eight points while Young finished with four points and five rebounds at the break. The Warriors shot a blistering 46.9% from the floor in the first stanza while the Purple Knights drained 40% of their shots.
The Warriors opened the second half with six-straight points to claim a 10-point lead, 38-28. Saint Michael's clawed back into the game and sliced into the home team's advantage, knocking the lead down to four with 14 minutes to go in regulation.
A triple and a pair of free throws by Mency, increased the Warriors' lead to nine. The Purple Knights replied with five-consecutive points to cut the deficit back to four.
Merrimack maintained a single-digit lead until the final two minutes of the contest. A fast-break layup by Mency pushed the advantage to double-digits, 76-66. Strothers and Mack each converted a pair of shots from the charity stripe to cap off the Warriors' 13th win of the season.
"Senior Day is always a special day for the graduating players. Dee had extra intensity in his game today and his hard work paid off," said head coach Bert Hammel. "We've been playing extremely well lately and we'll need to continue to do so as the regular season ends and the playoffs start."
Merrimack travels to take on Southern N.H. in the regular season finale February 23.
