Men's Basketball Suffers Four-Point Defeat, 82-78, vs. St. Anselm
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – For the fifth straight time to begin the season, the Merrimack College men's basketball team erased a halftime deficit, but the Warriors could not hold on to their lead against Saint Anselm, losing 82-78 to the Hawks on Tuesday night.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 78 | St. Anselm 82
Records: Merrimack (2-3, 0-3 NE-10) | St. Anselm (4-1, 2-1 NE-10)
Location: Bert Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "You can't win games with turnovers at crucial times like we had tonight. In this league, you can't go prolonged minutes without scoring the basketball, and unfortunately we've done that the past couple of games. The guys have shown some grit in battling back into these games, we just have to start winning them."
How It Happened
Merrimack has trailed to begin the second half in every game this season, and the trend did not end against the Hawks, who were picked to win the Northeast Division in the preseason coaches' poll.
The Warriors began the second half losing by five points, but Merrimack began the half scoring the first six points to take a 42-41 lead just 2:13 into the second stanza.
Neither team led by more than two points over the next six minutes, as the two squads exchanged baskets on either end of the floor. With the game tied at 59-59 with less than 12 minutes remaining, senior Travonne Berry-Rogers (Lynn, Mass.) knocked down his first three-pointer of the season and just the ninth of his career to give Merrimack its largest lead of the half to that point.
St. Anselm rallied back into the game and after Gelvis Solano (New York, N.Y.) hit a layup to give Merrimack a one-point advantage at 67-66, Roy Mabrey swished a three-point to give the Hawks a two-point lead with 6:59 to go. That shot began an 8-0 scamper by the Hawks, as they led 74-67 with less than three minutes to go.
The Warriors got as close as five points at 76-71 after a two-point bucket from JT Stickland (Laurel, Md.), but the Hawks had the answer, stretching their led to nine points at 82-73 with 36 seconds left, eliminating any hope for a game-winning comeback from the Navy and Gold.
The first half began well for the preseason favorites in the division, as the Hawks scored the first five points of the game. Merrimack answered with a 9-0 spurt and proceeded to led until the 9:07 mark of the first twenty minutes, when Chris Santo hit a layup to give St. Anselm a 22-21 advantage.
With the Warriors trailing 28-27, the Hawks scored six straight points to build a seven-point lead. The team's traded baskets the rest of the way, with the visitors entering halftime with a 41-36 lead.
Inside The Numbers
- Outside of six points from Berry-Rogers, the Warriors scored their remaining 72 points from four different players. Strickland finished with a career-high tying 21 points to lead the team in scoring for the first time this season.
- Freshman Kyle Howes (Maynard, Mass.) played one of his best games of the year, recording his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds
- Solano also recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards. It was the fourth time this season the at junior has scored at least 20 points and the second time that he has finished in double-digits in rebounds
- Junior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) was the other Warrior in double figures, pitching in 17 points on six-for-nine shooting.
Up Next
Merrimack doesn't return to the court until next Wednesday, when the Warriors travel to Bentley to take on the Falcons at 7:30 p.m.
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