Men's Basketball Welcomes Southern New Hampshire for 2013-14 Home Opener Wednesday
THE WARRIORS OPEN UP NE-10 CONFERENCE PLAY AGAINST THE PENMEN AT HAMMEL COURT
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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Coming off a back-to-back wins against Wilmington University and Concordia College at the Bentley Tip-Off Classic, the Merrimack College men's basketball team returns to Bert Hammel Court when it hosts defending Northeast-10 Champions Southern New Hampshire University. This is a rescheduled game, which was previously on the schedule for February.
The Basics
Game: Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013 | 7 p.m.
Records: Merrimack (2-0) | Southern New Hampshire (1-0)
Location: Hammel Court| North Andover, Mass.
Last Time Out
Merrimack and Concordia were tied at 31-31 with 5:48 to play before Concordia finished on a 20-6 run into the locker room. The Warriors went 1 for 7 from the field in the final five minutes and also missed three free throws. Merrimack shot 37 percent from the field in the first half.
Concordia scored the first five points of the second half to open up a 56-37 lead with 19:02 remaining. But Merrimack then went on a 27-4 tear that started with a Gelvis Solano (New York, N.Y.) basket with 18:48 remaining in the game.
Solano had nine points during the run and sophomore Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) had a pair of 3-pointers in the stretch.
Junior Ryan Woumn (Lynn, Mass.) scored all seven of his game points during the stretch and snapped a 60-60 tie with a 3-pointer with 11:32 remaining. Concordia tied the game two more times with 9:21 to play (69-69) before Merrimack forged ahead for good on two baskets from sophomore Anthony Barry (Uxbridge, Mass.) and another from Solano.
The Warriors led by as many as 12 (96-84) with 11 seconds to play.
Last Season against the Penmen
- Game 1: Merrimack defeated Southern New Hampshire, 80-58, at Hammel Court.
- JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) tallied a team-high 17 points and seven assists.
- Warriors finished 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) from the field and a season-best 23-for-26 (88.5 percent) from the line, with Hammel accounting for 11 of those free throws.
- Game 2: SNHU defeated Merrimack, 71-67, on the road.
- Merrimack, meanwhile, shot a respectable 27-of-62 (.435) but managed only five 3-point baskets, finishing 5-for-13 (.385) on the night from long range.
- The Warriors also finished 8-of-12 (.667) from the line.
The Warriors:
- Merrimack head coach Bert Hammel is just 12 wins shy of joining the coaching 500-win club. Hammel, now in his 34th year at Merrimack, has a career record of 488-450.
- Solano currently leads the Warriors with 53 points, while Barry tallies 45 points on the season.
- Merrimack has won 7 of its last 10 home openers.
- Barry currently ranks second in the NE-10 averaging 12.0 rebounds per game.
Scouting out the Southern New Hampshire Penmen:
- The Penmen were selected to finish second in the Northeast Division Preseason Poll.
- Coming off 89-72 win over Post University Saturday at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
- The 89 points scored by the Penmen marked their most in a game since a 101-92 loss to Merrimack College on December 8, 2009.
- Forward Elijah Bonsiqnore leads the team with 23 points, as well as 10 rebounds.
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For continuing coverage of Merrimack athletics, check back online at www.merrimackathletics.com, and follow the Warriors on Twitter @MC_Athletics.
