Men's Basketball Tackles Saint Michael's Wednesday Night in Vermont
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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Sitting one game back of a playoff spot with three games remaining in the regular season, the Merrimack men's basketball team kicks off a two-game road trip starting with a Wednesday night Northeast-10 Conference battle at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vt.
The Warriors are coming off a thrilling 83-80 home victory against UMass Lowell in the final regular season matchup between the two rivals on Saturday at Hammel Court. That result, coupled with losses by Stonehill and Le Moyne pushed Merrimack right back into the playoff race.
The Purple Knights, meanwhile, handed Stonehill a 74-59 setback on Saturday afternoon, and after a 1-8 record in the month of January, Saint Michael's has gone 3-2 in February but still sits in last place in the conference standings.
Wednesday night's battle marks the 72nd meeting in the all-time series. The Warriors own a very slim 36-35 advantage in a rivalry that dates back to 1966-67, but have won the last 10 meetings against the Purple Knights, including a tight 43-36 victory back at Hammel Court in early December.
In Merrimack's last outing, the Warriors came through down the stretch to emerge on top, 83-80, securing a huge conference victory against UMass Lowell in the final regular season meeting between the two schools.
Down by one with a minute to go, senior forward Mike Clifford (Danvers, Mass.) – who finished with a team-high 28 points to lead the shorthanded Warriors – drove to the basket and banked his shot up and in while drawing a foul, putting Merrimack ahead with a chance to add one more at the line. The senior captain sank the free throw to put the Warriors up by two, 77-75.
Lowell did not wait long to respond, as leading scorer Akeem Williams drove the length of the court and tied it up on an unassisted basket to send it back to the Warriors. But just like that, it was freshman JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) who returned the favor, going coast-to-cast while banking in a key layup to push the Warriors back up by two (79-77) with 49 seconds to play.
After Merrimack took an 81-77 lead, Lowell's Chad Holley connected for a dramatic 3-point bomb with 11 seconds remaining, bringing the visitors to within one, 81-80. But the River Hawks were forced to foul again, sending Strickland to the line for a chance to pull ahead by three. The Laurel, Md., native did just that, and Williams' final 3-point attempt of the game was off the mark, giving the Warriors a three-point victory as the final buzzer sounded.
Saint Michael's rides into Wednesday winners of two straight, marking just the third time this season that the Purple Knights have won back-to-back contests. Sporting an overall record of 8-15 and a conference mark of 5-14, Saint Michael's sits in last place in the conference standings and will need to win out and get help to have a chance at earning a postseason berth.
The Purple Knights own a 3-8 record at home compared to a 5-7 mark on the road. January was not kind to Saint Mike's, who went 1-8 in the first month of the New Year. February, however, has been better, as the Purple Knights are 3-2 with three games remaining.
Only two players average double figures for the Purple Knights, highlighted by sophomore Corey Crawford II. The second-year guard leads the way with 11.6 ppg on a 37.7 percent clip from the field and 33.7 percent mark from long range. Behind him, classmate James Cambronne adds 11.4 ppg and represents one of the team's top rebounders as well (6.1 rpg).
As a team, Saint Mike's ranks second-to-last (60.8 ppg) in scoring offense, but the Purple Knights more than make up for the lack of scoring touch with a suffocating defense that ranks second in the league (62.5).
The Purple Knights also are the fourth-best rebounding team (37.0) in the league, while their 4.5 blocks per game are tops in the conference. Finally, the squad's 62.1 percent conversion rate at the stripe is the worst among NE-10 teams.
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