Men's Basketball Triumphs at Home over Assumption, 70-64
NORTH ANDOVER, MA- The Merrimack men's basketball team hung on for a 70-64 victory over Assumption Saturday afternoon at Hammel Court. The Warriors improve to 10-9 on the season and 7-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the win. The loss drops the Greyhounds to 8-11 overall and 6-9 in league games this season.
Wayne Mack (Paterson, NJ) led Merrimack with 20 points to go with seven rebounds. Mike Clifford (Danvers, MA) posted his team-leading fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 boards on the day. Aaron Strothers (Wareham, MA) scored 15 points and pulled down three rebounds. Wilfredo Pagan dished out a team-high five assists in the win.
The Greyhounds grabbed an early 7-2 lead after five minutes of action.
Merrimack cut the deficit to three, 13-10, after 7:17 had elapsed in the first half as Clifford converted a three-point play with a made free throw.
Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY) halted an Assumption run with a lay-up to draw the Warriors to within six with 9:35 remaining in the first half, 18-12. The senior caught a pass on the baseline before splitting a pair of defenders with a spin move. Davis drained the uncontested bucket for his first points of the afternoon.
Strothers pulled the Warriors to within a point of the visitors, 20-19, with 6:15 left to play in the opening frame. After Tyler Young (Brooklyn, NY) missed a lay-up, Strothers jammed in a monster putback-dunk.
Merrimack grabbed its first lead of the game with 4:23 remaining in the first half, 21-20. Young nailed a fade-away jumper using the glass to record his first basket of the contest.
Assumption knotted the score at 23-23 on a three-pointer from Kevin Donahue with 3:14 until halftime.
The hosts went ahead 31-29 with under a minute left to play in the first period. Kevin Regan (Philadelphia, PA) finished a three-point play with a successful free throw attempt.
At the break, Merrimack owned a 33-29 lead over the Greyhounds. Mack paced the Warriors at the intermission with 13 points while Strothers poured in 10 in the first half.
The home team shot 35.1% from the field in the opening stanza while connecting on just one three-point bid. Assumption drained 38.7% of its field goal attempts in the first half while shooting 45.5% from behind the arc.
The Warriors opened up a six-point spread in the second half after just 1:18 of action.
The Greyhounds clawed back to trail by one with 14:20 remaining in regulation, 41-40. Merrimack netted five straight points to restore its lead to six with 12:50 left to play.
The Warriors largest advantage in the game came with 7:32 showing on the clock. A lay-up by Mack pushed the margin to 12 points, 59-47.
Merrimack would not relinquish the lead as it knocked down five of six free throw attempts in the final minute of play to hold on for the win.
The Warriors concluded the game with field-goal percentage of 39.1% after shooting 43.8% from the floor in the second half. Assumption sank 40.0% of its field goal attempts in the contest while connecting on 37.5% from long distance.
Both squads hauled in 42 rebounds on the day with Merrimack holding a 17-12 edge in offensive boards.
Merrimack will hit the road for a contest at local rival Bentley January 31 before opening up a five-game home-stand February 4 against Stonehill.
