Men's Basketball Looks to Improve Undefeated Non-Conference Record This Weekend
Links: Video (Bloomfield) | Video (Wilmington)
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team looks to continue its undefeated mark in out-of-conference play when the Warriors play a pair of games this weekend to conclude the 2014 calendar year.
The Basics
Date/Time: 12/20-12/21 | 3 p.m.
Records: Merrimack (3-6, 0-6 NE-10) | Wilmington (3-7, 2-2 CACC) | Bloomfield (3-5, 2-2 CACC)
Location: Wilmington, Del. | Bloomfield, N.J.
Last Time Out:
Merrimack was thwarted by Saint Michael's, 75-73, in a hard-fought contest from Hammel Court last Saturday. Junior guard Gelvis Solano (New York, N.Y.) totaled 30 points, including 20 in the first half, to lead the Warriors. Solano scored 13 straight points for Merrimack in the first half, helping erase a 14-point first-half deficit. He then totaled five points as part of an 11-0 run for the Warriors in the second half to turn a 10-point deficit into a one-point lead with two minutes remaining in the game.
On the year, Solano leads the Warriors in multiple statistical categories, including points (21.9), rebounds (6.7) and steals (3.2) per game. Joining Solano with a double-digit average is Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) with 14.6 points per game. Hammel leads the team with a 90.5 free-throw percentage (19-21).
Another junior guard, JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) posts an average of 9.9 ppg and 5.5 assists per game, which leads Merrimack. Junior forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) has brought a much-needed presence to post, totaling 9.1 ppg and 6.6 rpg.
Last Season vs. Wilmington
Merrimack took on Wilmington last season in the first game of the 2013-14 season, winning by 14 points. Solano led four players in double figures with 21 points. Forward Anthony Barry (Uxbridge, Mass.) tied Solano with 21 points of his own, playing effective minutes as Merrimack's sixth man. The Warriors did not play Bloomfield last season.
The Warriors will meet the Wildcats for the fifth time, holding a 4-0 all-time record. The meeting with Bloomfield will be the third in the program's histories, with Merrimack defeating the Bears in the previous two contests.
The Wildcats:
- Wilmington has won three straight games coming into Saturday's action, two of which have come in CACC play
- Tyaire Ponzo-Meek paces the squad with 18.0 ppg. He's an effective shooter, scoring on 46.7 percent of his three-point field goals
- Kevin Ohen joins Ponzo-Meek in double figures with 11.4 ppg, playing in only 19.6 minutes per games, most of which has come off of the bench
The Bears:
- Bloomfield has lost two straight games entering Sunday's action. The Bears will play New Haven on Friday night before their matchup with the Warriors
- Five players average at least 13 ppg for the Bears, led by Marvin Williams with 18.8 points per contest. The Bears score over 80 ppg but allow an average of 86.3 points per contest
- Bloomfield has six players averaging at least 25 minutes, but after that no player on the roster averages more than eight minutes per contest
Up Next
Merrimack won't return to the court until 2015, when the Warriors will play Southern New Hampshire in Northeast-10 action at 3 p.m. on January 3.
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