Men's Basketball Returns to NE-10 Slate with Stonehill Saturday
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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After closing out December with a non-conference victory and finishing the final month of 2012 with a 3-1 record, the Merrimack men's basketball team returns to Northeast-10 Conference play when it opens up its 2013 slate against league foe Stonehill on Saturday afternoon at Hammel Court.
The Warriors have won a season-high three in a row after starting off the year 2-6. Merrimack picked up league wins against Saint Michael's (43-36) and Southern New Hampshire (80-58), as well as its most recent victory over Bloomfield (87-69) in that stretch.
The Skyhawks have also won three in a row entering Saturday's showdown. After falling to 3-4 on the season and dropping out of the national rankings, Stonehill has reeled off three straight victories, most recently downing Holy Family, 72-48, on Dec. 30.
Merrimack and Stonehill are meeting for the 106th time. The Skyhawks are Merrimack's most-played opponent in program history. Saint Anselm ranks second in the all-time meeting list with 102 previous showdowns, including a 98-83 loss to the Hawks earlier this season.
Last year, Merrimack went 1-2 against the Skyhawks. Its lone victory came on Feb. 4, 2012, when the Warriors won a defensive battle, 51-43, at Hammel Court. Stonehill returned the favor when it ended Merrimack's season in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Championships.
Stonehill has more or less dominated the all-time series, holding a 67-38 advantage over Merrimack in a series that dates back to 1966.
Most recently, thanks to a double-double performances from senior Tyler Young and rookie JT Strickland, Merrimack ran up its winning streak to a season-high third in a row, as the Warriors scored the contest's first 15 points en route to a comfortable 87-69 victory in their non-conference finale on Monday afternoon at Hammel Court.
Young, a four-year veteran, and Strickland, one of the team's emerging young stars, both enjoyed record-setting afternoons. The former edged past his previous personal best in scoring after finishing with 20 points, 10 boards and a career-high seven assists, as Young narrowly missed a triple-double by three helpers. Strickland, meanwhile, finished with 11 points and a career-best 12 assists, posting his first-ever unconventional double-double.
The Warriors finished the contest shooting an impressive 50.7 percent from the floor (34-for-67) while limiting the Deacons to just a 32.3 percent (21-for-65) conversion rate. Merrimack chucked up 14 treys while converting five of them (35.7 percent), while the visitors went 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from downtown.
Finally, Merrimack posted a respectable 73.7 percent clip from the free throw line (14-for-19), as the home side posted a plus-70 free throw percentage for the third straight match. Bloomfield finished 20-for-26 (76.9 percent) from the stripe.
Young wrapped up his memorable afternoon going 6-for-11 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe and added one block, as well. Strickland posted a game-high four steals and hauled in six boards. Senior forward Mike Clifford led all players with a 24-point outing on a game-high 11 field goals (11-for-15) and posted nine boards, while junior Kevin Regan rounded out the group of Merrimack double-digit scorers with 12 points, six boards and two steals.
The Skyhawks, who were picked third in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, started the year nationally ranked, but after a 1-4 stretch from late November to early December, Stonehill fell out of the national picture with a 3-4 record.
Stonehill has turned it around as of late, winning three straight to soar two games above .500, entering Saturday with a 6-4 overall record but just 2-4 in league play and 0-3 on the road.
Three players average in double figures for Stonehill, with senior forward Raheem May-Thompson leading the way with 12.9 ppg. The big man also has posted 10 blocks, 14 assists and averages 5.6 rpg.
Behind him, classmate Adam Fazzini ranks second with 11.5 ppg, just ahead of fellow senior Brian Hamor (11.4 ppg). The former owns a team-leading 49.1 percent conversion rate from downtown, as well as a side-high 49.4 percent clip from the field, while the latter has dished 29 helpers along with contributing 3.1 rpg.
Stonehill's offense ranks 11th in the league (66.6 ppg), as the Skyhawks have relied on the long ball throughout the season, averaging 8.2 treys per game, the fourth-best mark in the league. The Skyhawks' 3.9 blocks per game average ranks sixth in the NE-10, while their scoring defense (65.7 ppg) ranks eighth.
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