Mency Nets 2,000th Point but Men's Basketball Falls to Southern NH
MANCHESTER, N.H.- Senior co-captain Darin Mency (Hagerstown, Md.) joined an elite group Wednesday evening. Mency became just the fifth Warrior to score 2,000 career points. He entered Wednesday's contest one point away from the milestone mark. Mency drained a triple six minutes into the contest to reach accomplish the feat.
With a 27-point performance in the final regular-season game, Mency moved into fourth on the all-time scoring list. The senior co-captain passed Warrior great Gary Duda and currently sits at 2,026
Merrimack suffered a 82-62 loss Wednesday evening to Southern N.H. at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The Warriors end Northeast-10 play with a 9-13 record. Merrimack finishes the 2010-11 regular season owning a 13-13 overall mark. The Penmen raise their overall record to 11-15 while improving to 7-15 in the league.
Mency's 27 led the Warriors in the game. Wayne Mack (Paterson, N.J.) finished with 13 points on the night. Tyler Young (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted his eighth double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds while adding three blocks. Adam Marshall (Kent, England) pulled down eight rebounds in the contest.
The Warriors got off to a great start as Young poured in two points on the opening possession. The sophomore scored the visitors' second bucket of the game five minutes later to cut the deficit to two points, 6-4.
Nine minutes into the first frame, Wayne Mack connected on a trey to slice the Penmen's lead to four, 16-12. Mency book-ended a Southern N.H. field goal with a turn-around jumper and a three-pointer to pull Merrimack to within four once again, 21-17.
After the Penmen gained a double-figure advantage, Wilfredo Pagan converted a layup to lower the lead to eight.
Southern N.H. sported a 37-30 advantage at intermission. The Penmen shot 41% from the field in the first half while Merrimack owned a 32.4% field goal percentage.
Mency led the Warriors in the first period of play with 11 points while Young added 10 points and seven rebounds.
The two teams traded three-pointers to open the second half.
The Penmen hit a pair of treys to gain a 13-point margin with five minutes gone by in the second stanza, 53-40. A 6-2 spell by the home team pushed the Warriors' deficit to 17 points just before the midway point of the second frame.
Mency tied a career-high by draining his seventh three-pointer of the game with just under six minutes remaining, inching Merrimack closer to Southern N.H., 68-56.
The Penmen strung together a 9-0 run to take a 77-56 lead heading into the final four minutes of play. Young halted the spell with a mid-range jumper and Mack diminished the home team's lead to 17 with a trey from the right wing.
The Warriors shot 35% from the field in the contest while Southern N.H. sported a 45.3% field goal percentage. The Penmen owned a narrow 41-38 gap on the boards for the game.
"It was good to see Dee reach 2,000. Tonight was a special night for him and he will always remember this. He is a great player and provides a great deal of leadership to the team," said head coach Bert Hammel.
The Warriors finished the 2010-11 season with a 9-13 mark in league action, good for 11th place. Merrimack will wait to learn its Northeast-10 Playoffs first round matchup slated for February 26.
