Men's Basketball Welcomes Le Moyne Hoping to Bounce Back Tuesday Night
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Full Game Notes
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Looking to right the ship and snap a two-game losing streak, the Merrimack men's basketball team continues a two-game homestand, welcoming Northeast-10 Conference rival Le Moyne for a Tuesday night tilt at Hammel Court.
After going more than a month without a loss, Merrimack dropped a pair of league games last week. The Warriors fell on the road, 85-74, to Adelphi before falling at home against New Haven on Saturday, 65-57.
Visiting Le Moyne also looks to snap a two-game losing streak, as the Dolphins sit in a tie for eighth place with a league record of 4-5, while entering Tuesday's showdown with a 7-6 overall mark.
Merrimack and Le Moyne have faced each other 26 times in a series that dates back to 1996-97. The Warriors just trail in the series, owning a 12-14 all-time mark against the Dolphins.
Merrimack has lost two straight against Le Moyne, as the two schools have played each other just once in each of the last five seasons. The Warriors' last win against Le Moyne came on Jan. 12, 2010, an 83-68 road victory. Last year, the Dolphins won the two schools' only matchup of the season, as the Warriors suffered an 81-63 defeat on the road on Jan. 11, 2012.
Last time out, Merrimack rallied from a 13-point deficit and took the lead with about 10 minutes to play, but visiting New Haven pulled away in the closing minutes en route to handing the Warriors' their second straight loss, 65-57, in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Hammel Court.
Only two players reached double figures for the home side, led by senior forward Mike Clifford, who paced the Warriors with a 16-point, 13-rebound performance on a 5-of-12 clip from the field. Fellow starter and classmate Tyler Young also hit double-digits with a 10-point outing while finishing 4-for-5 from the stripe.
The Warriors were doomed by one of its poorer 3- and free-throw shooting performances of the season, as the home side hauled up 11 treys and converted just two of them (18.2 percent). And after going four straight games with a free throw percentage over 70 percent, the Warriors registered their second consecutive game in the 60-percent range, finishing 13-for-21 (61.9 percent) from the stripe.
Merrimack came out firing to start the second half down 32-26, and after falling behind by eight, the Warriors finally tied the game at 41-41 with an even 13:00 remaining in the contest. The Warriors took their first lead of the game with 12:05 to go, as both sides exchanged the lead over the ensuing three minutes.
But New Haven would take the lead for good on back-to-back free throws with just under 10 minutes to go, and the Chargers would fend off the home side from there on out. Merrimack trimmed the deficit down to three (55-52) with 4:50 to play, but missed opportunities off a plethora of New Haven turnovers sealed the Warriors' fate.
The Dolphins, who were picked 13th in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, enter Tuesday's matchup looking to break a two-game winless stretch. Le Moyne posted an impressive 5-1 mark in December, including a four-game winning streak at one point, but have gone 1-3 in January.
Three players average double-digits in scoring for the Dolphins. Leading the pack is junior center Jim Janson, who averages 13.5 ppg while also representing the team's lead rebounder, as well, with a side-high 6.1 rpg. Janson also ranks at the top of the conference with 29 blocks.
Fellow junior Brian Zapisek ranks second in scoring with 12.9 ppg, and the forward also averages 5.2 rpg to compliment his 23 steals, one of the top marks in the league for individual takeaways. Sophomore Nate Gause rounds out the trio with a scoring average of 10.6 ppg.
The Dolphins are one of the more accurate shooting teams in the league, ranking sixth with a team field goal percentage of .442. Le Moyne's 15.8 apg average is second only to Merrimack, while the Dolphins also rank in the top-five in steals (8.2 - 4th) and blocks (4.5 - 2nd). Finally, the Dolphins have held the opposition to just a 39.1 percent shooting clip on the year, accounting for the third-best shooting defense in the league.
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