Men's Basketball Eyes Key Road Win at Stonehill Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Game Links
Watch: StonehillSkyhawks.TV
Live Stats: www.stonehillskyhawks.com
Follow: @MC_Athletics
Full Game Notes
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Facing a team that it is tied in the conference standings with for the second consecutive game, the Merrimack men's basketball team will look to finally tally its first road win of the year when it travels to Stonehill for a Sunday night showdown at Merkert Gymnasium.
The Warriors are coming off their biggest win of the season, a 71-62 victory at home against Bentley on Wednesday night, to help push them a game back of a playoff spot in the league standings. Stonehill, meanwhile, has gone 3-2 in its last five but is coming off a 20-point setback at Franklin Pierce and will be looking to average an earlier loss against the Warriors from January.
Merrimack and Stonehill are meeting for the 107th 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, followed by Assumption (94) and Bentley (85).
Stonehill has more or less dominated the all-time series, holding a 67-39 advantage over Merrimack in a series that dates back to 1966. The Warriors, however, were 73-58 victors back on Jan. 5 at Hammel Court, and a win for Merrimack today would assure them of a season sweep over the Skyhawks.
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.
After going winless in 18 consecutive contests against Bentley dating back to 2005, Merrimack earned its long-awaited victory over the Falcons in its last game on Wednesday night, as the Warriors picked up a huge, 71-62 victory to propel themselves back into the playoff race.
The Warriors dominated the battle in the paint against the Falcons. Merrimack finished the contest with a 49-27 (+22) edge in rebounding, the most lopsided rebounding victory for Merrimack since a +23 advantage against Bryant at the end of 2002.
In a game that saw Merrimack lead from the 16:29 mark of the first half all the way to the final buzzer, the Warriors benefitted from a hot hand from the floor and from downtown, as the home side shot 30-for-68 (44.1) and 10-for-21 (47.6), respectively, overall and from 3-point range. The latter mark was buoyed by a 7-for-13 (53.8) clip in the first half alone, while Merrimack shot an even 15-for-30 overall in the opening frame before cooling off a bit in the second half.
Leading the field of Warrior scorers was freshman Gelvis Solano, who came through in a big way on Wednesday night by dropping a game-high 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-9 from long range. The rookie shooting guard added four assists and totaled five steals and eight boards, as well.
Behind him, classmate JT Strickland was a factor on offense, as the playmaker distributed a game-high nine helpers and finished with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Finally, senior Mike Clifford came through in a big way down the stretch, and after scoring just two points in the first half the forward added 10 in the second stanza to seal the deal for the home side. Clifford posted his team-leading eighth double-double as well by means of his 11-rebound performance, while classmate Tyler Young led all players with 12 boards.
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 and enter Sunday's matchup 10-10 overall with a 6-10 mark in league play.
The Skyhawks have been tough all season at home, sporting an 8-3 mark in Easton, Mass., but have gone just 2-7 on the road this year. Three players average in double figures for Stonehill, with senior Brian Hamor leading the way. The guard owns a 10.3 ppg scoring average and shoots 31.5 percent from the floor and 32.1 percent from long range. His 58 assists rank second on the squad, while his 19 steals are tops on the team.
Behind him, sophomore forward Jack Cole and senior guard Adam Fazzini rank second in scoring, as both are tied with 10.2 ppg. The former has shot a lights-out 61.2 percent from the floor and hauls in a team-best 8.7 rpg and has totaled a team-best 25 blocks. The latter, meanwhile, is the top 3-point shooter (46.2) for the Skyhawks, and isn't bad from the floor, either (48.0). Fellow starters Sam Markle has appeared in all 19 games, averaging 23.5 minutes per contest while distributing a team-best 70 assists (3.5 apg).
Stonehill's offense ranks 14th in the league (63.6 ppg), as the Skyhawks have relied on the long ball throughout the season, averaging 8.4 treys per game, the third best mark in the league. The Skyhawks' 3.7 blocks per game average ranks sixth in the NE-10, while their scoring defense (64.4 ppg) is fifth best. As a team, Stonehill's 38.1 percent 3-point conversion rate ranks second in the conference, but overall the Skyhawks rank 14th in shooting (42.2) and 12th at the stripe (64.7).
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