Men's Hoops Prevails on the Road at New Haven, 85-74
WEST HAVEN, CT- Sparked by double-figure scoring from Mike Clifford (Danvers, MA), Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY) and Aaron Strothers (Wareham, MA), the Merrimack men's basketball team claimed its first victory of 2012. The Warrior topped New Haven 85-74 Saturday afternoon on the road to improve to 7-6 on the year and 4-5 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Chargers suffered their second conference loss of the season as they fall to 6-2 in the league and 10-3 overall.
Clifford totaled a career-high 22 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field while adding six boards. Davis contributed 21 points and five assists while Strothers finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Wayne Mack (Paterson, NJ) recorded 11 points and pulled down eight boards on the day. Tyler Young (Brooklyn, NY) collected all eight of his points from the free throw line, draining all eight attempts.
The Warriors came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, netting 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting to grab a quick 12-4 advantage.
The Chargers scored eight-consecutive points to knot the contest at 12-12 after 6:19 had elapsed. Merrimack responded with a 19-4 run to capture a 31-16 lead with 8:20 remaining in the first half.
The Warriors held the hosts scoreless for a span of 4:56 as New Haven tallied a basket with 1:10 left to play in the opening frame.
Merrimack sported a 41-27 margin at the midway point of the game. Clifford and Davis combined to score 30 points in the first half as Clifford registered 16 and Davis poured in 14. The Warriors shot 42.1% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the three-point arc in the opening 20 minutes.
The Chargers were suppressed to 37.9% shooting from the floor and 28.6% from long range in the first period.
The visitors played with discipline in the first half as they recorded only three turnovers and were whistled for just three fouls.
Merrimack maintained its double-digit advantage throughout the second stanza.
A pair of free throws by Kevin Regan (Philadelphia, PA) with less than eight minutes remaining pushed the Warriors' lead to 21, the largest gap of the game, 66-45.
Merrimack closed out the contest with a 13-for-14 effort from the free throw line in the final 2:23. The Warriors finished the game with eight-straight points from the charity stripe.
The visiting team connected on 43.5% of its field goal attempts and 27-of-29 free throw shots in the win. New Haven owned a field goal percentage 38.8 and drained just eight of 29 bids from behind the arc.
Merrimack outrebounded the Chargers on the afternoon 40-36 with each side grabbing 12 offensive boards.
"We came out and played smart basketball from the beginning of the game," said head coach Bert Hammel. "We did a good job of establishing our inside game and taking control of the game. We were able to hang onto our lead and get a good win against a quality team today."
The Warriors remain on the road as they travel to Syracuse, NY to square off against Le Moyne January 11.
