Solano Scores Career High as Men's Basketball Wins Fifth Straight, 104-97, Over Saint Rose
Links: Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team, led by a career-high 44 points from junior guard Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.), collected its fifth consecutive win with a, 104-97, victory over the College of Saint Rose from Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The current five-game winning streak is the longest for the Warriors since the 2012-13 season, and Merrimack scored 100 points in a game for the first time since 2010.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 104 | Saint Rose 97
Records: Merrimack (8-6, 3-6 NE-10) | Saint Rose (5-12, 3-7 NE-10)
Location: Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium | Albany, N.Y.
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "Obviously the offense was going really well for us. I thought we were really good defensively in the beginning of the game. A lot of their shots they made, especially in the second half, were tough shots, but a lot of their points came on second-chance opportunities. We're going to have to improve that aspect of our game moving forward if we want to keep moving up in the conference. Bottom line: A road conference win is huge for us moving forward.
How It Happened
Within the first 6:05 of the game, Merrimack sustained two separate runs to take and early lead. Each team exchanged three-point baskets to begin the contest, but then the Warriors scored six unanswered points to take a 9-3 lead. Junior guard JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) converted on a three-point play as part of that spurt.
With the Warriors lead cut to 11-9 at the 15:41 mark, Merrimack scored nine of the games next 11 points. Junior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) scored the final five points of that 9-2 spurt, including his first three-pointer of the game. The Navy and Gold led 20-11 with 13:55 left in the first stanza.
The half and the game then turned into the Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) show. With 11:27 left in the half, Solano drilled three consecutive three-pointers over a span of just 1:02 to turn a six-point Warriors advantage into a 32-19 Merrimack lead at the midway point of the first half. At that point in the game, Solano was shooting seven-of-10 from the field and five-of-six from three-point range.
With less than seven minutes to go, a Max Weaver three-pointer send the Warriors lead back to single digits momentarily, but a James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) layup 12 seconds later gave Merrimack an 11-point lead at 41-30.
After that shot, Solano made two from the charity stripe to stretch the lead to 13 points, but after that the Golden Knights scored seven unanswered to make it a 43-37 game at the 4:29 mark of the first 20 minutes.
Over the final four minutes of the half, the Golden Knights got as close as five points. A layup from Travonne Berry-Rogers (Lynn, Mass.) pushed Merrimack's lead to nine points at 48-39 with 1:55 left. Solano hit another three-pointer to give him 25 points in the half. To put that in perspective, those 25 points were for the fourth most that he had scored all season, with the entire second half still to play. The junior finished the game with a career high of 44 points, which is also the most scored in a game by a player in the Northeast-10 Conference this season.
The Warriors went into halftime with a 53-42 lead. The Warriors shot 61 percent from the field (19-31), but the Golden Knights held in there by shooting nearly 70 percent from the field (15-22). Solano was simply on fire, totaling 25 points on eight-of-12 from the field and six-of-seven from three-point range.
The second half started as the first half went, with the conference foes scoring a combined 10 points within the first 1:40. With 16:48 left in the game, Kennedy scored to make it 64-50 in favor of Merrimack. At that point, Hammel, Kennedy and Solano had combined to score all but nine of the Warriors' 64 points.
Starting at the 16:07 mark, the Warriors ripped off a 10-2 to build a 74-55 lead, their largest at this point in the game. Strickland, Hammel and Berry-Rogers all had baskets as part of that run.
At the 9:33 mark, Solano hit a layup to score his 31st point of the game. It is the fourth time this year that the junior guard has eclipsed the 30-point plateau. The game got interesting as with the Warriors holding a 15-point advantage at 86-71, the Golden Knights went on an 11-0 to run to make it a four-point game with minutes remaining.
Merrimack answered swiftly with an 11-0 run of their own, capped off by two free throws from Solano, giving him 38 points for the game and tying his career high. Merrimack led 97-82 with less than three minutes to go in the game.
Saint Rose continued to shoot the ball well, as the Golden Knights finished the game shooting 57 percent from the field, including 16-of-32 from three-point range. The Southwest Division members made it a single-digit game with less than one minute remaining. It was at this point where Solano iced the game with free throws, and reached his career high. He went six-for-six over the final 34 seconds to collect the final six points needed to reach 44 for the game.
The Navy and Gold reached the 100-point milestone for the first time since November of 2010, when the Warriors beat Bloomfield College in a non-conference matchup. The 97 points Merrimack allowed is the most they have given up in a game this season, winning the game in spite of the hot shooting from the Golden Knights.
Inside The Numbers
- Solano's the star: The junior has scored in double digits in every game this season, but the Solano put the Navy and Gold on his back in this one. Solano led the team in points (44), rebounds (6), assists (6) and steals (5). He shot 12-of-18 from the field, eight-of-11 from three and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line
- Courtesy of Chris Granozio of D2 East Hoops: Solano's 44 points are not only the most in the conference this season, but they are the most scored in the East Region and second most scored in Division II this year. Seth Youngblood of Arkansas-Fort Smith put up 48 points in a game earlier this year.
- One more Solano note: The junior, who now ranks 30th all-time in program history with 1,233 career points, scored the most points for a Merrimack player since the 2002-03 season. The year, forward Justin Leith put up 45 points in a game that also happened to be at Saint Rose. Solano is the first player since then to reach 40 points while wearing a Merrimack uniform.
- Although he fouled out with 1:39 to go in the game, Hammel still played enough to score 23 points, the fourth straight game in which the junior has totaled at least 20 points, on eight-of-11 shooting including five three-pointers
- Kennedy and Strickland were no slouches either as the two juniors combined for 28 points. Kennedy finished with 17 of his own, meaning he has now scored in double figures in three straight games and five of the last six contests
- Credit where credit is due: Saint Rose faced two fifteen-point deficits over the final 10 minutes of the game and did not fold. The Golden Knights shot 57 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and had five players score in double figures for an offense that came into the game averaging just 61 points per game
- Merrimack set a season high in field-goal percentage (62 percent), three-point field-goal percentage (56 percent) and three-point field-goals made (14)
Up Next
The Warriors return to Hammel Court on Saturday to take on the Le Moyne College Dolphins. Single-game tickets will be available for purchase online at this link, or by calling the Merrimack Athletics Box Office at 978-837-5324. Adult tickets cost $5, while youth/senior tickets cost $3.
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