Men's Basketball Earns Five-Point Victory, 77-72, over Le Moyne; Warriors Collect Sixth Straight Win
Links: Box Score | Gelvis Solano Interview | JT Strickland Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team held off a hard-charging Le Moyne squad, 77-72, on Saturday afternoon to win the program's sixth straight game, the longest winning streak for the Warriors in five years.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 77 | Le Moyne 72
Records: Merrimack (9-6, 4-6 NE-10) | Le Moyne (12-5, 6-4 NE-10
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "That was a very fun game to be a part of, with both teams competing at a high level and we happened to come out on top tonight. I felt like we defended well almost the entire game, and as we keep moving forward we'll really have to limit the mistakes against the rest of the teams in the league. We're very happy for the guys to collect a hard-fought victory."
How It Happened
Merrimack led for most of the contest, and outside of Le Moyne sinking the game's first basket, the Warriors led for the entire first half.
Qwadere Lovell made a three-pointer just 1:27 into the contest to give the Dolphins an early 3-0 advantage. The Warriors would answer with an 8-0 run highlighted by two three-pointers from junior guard Gelvis Solano (New York, N.Y.) to quickly take a five-point lead. Solano was coming off a career-high 44-point performance against Saint Rose, the most points in the East Region this year and most points for a Merrimack player since the 2002-03 campaign.
The game was tied at 15-all with 14:05 to go after a Nate Gause three-pointer. Coming into the contest, Solano and Gause were the top two scorers in the Northeast-10 Conference. After that shot, the Navy and Gold embarked on an 8-0 spurt to take a 23-15 lead at the 11:06 mark.
Junior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) swished a three-pointer to push Merrimack's lead to nine points, 26-17, with 9:11 left in the first stanza. Le Moyne responded though, scoring nine-unanswered points to make it 26-26 with seven minutes to go in the half.
The Warriors held the Dolphins scoreless over the final 2:33 lead of the half to take a 37-31 lead into the halftime break. Solano scored 15 points over the first twenty minutes, while forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) finished the first half with six points and six boards, shooting three-for-three from the field.
The teams exchanged buckets over the first five minutes of the second stanza, when Hammel made another three with 14:57 to give the Warriors a 47-41 lead. Le Moyne scored the next four points to make it a one-possession game, but Merrimack answered with an 8-0 run highlighted by a three-pointer from Travonne Berry-Rogers (Lynn, Mass.). The Warriors led, 55-47, with 11:19 left in the game.
Le Moyne would not go away as the Dolphins scored five in a row to make it a three-point contest. Another scamper from Merrimack, this time a 9-2 spurt, made it 64-57 with 7:07 to go.
Over the next 4:39 the Warriors would score just three points, all from JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.), allowing Le Moyne to take its second lead of the game at 68-67 with 2:32 remaining. It was the Dolphins first advantage since the 18:33 mark of the first half.
The Warriors did not succumb, however, and battled back for the victory. Trailing by three points with less than two minutes to go, Solano hit a corner three to tie the game at 70-70. Merrimack took the lead on a free throw from Strickland. His next attempt from the charity stripe missed, but the junior got his own miss and made the putback to make it 73-70.
Merrimack survived a scare with just seconds remaining. Leading 73-72, Hammel turned the ball over and Gause had a wide-open look at a layup, but the Dolphins leading scorer missed the shot and sent Hammel to the line. The junior guard, who entered the game leading the conference in free-throw percentage, made both from the line to ice the game.
The Warriors win their sixth contest in a row and now have not lost a game since the middle of December. The Navy and Gold are on their longest winning streak since the 2009-10 campaign, when Merrimack won 11 straight games.
Inside The Numbers
- Merrimack still is just seventh in the Northeast Divisoin, but the Warriors sit just one game out of fifth place. The top-five teams in the division advance to the conference tournament
- Solano finished with 22 points and has now scored in double digits in every game this season. The junior finished the week with 66 points over two games, while also adding eight rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals over the two games
- Hammel's streak of 20-point games ends at four contest, but the Warriors guard finished second on the team with 16 points. Berry-Rogers added 11 points off the bench over 21 minutes, shooting four-of-five from the field
- Kennedy nearly totaled a double-double with nine points and eight boards. Merrimack had a slight edge on the glass, 35-31, but the Dolphins scored six mote points in the paint than the Warriors
- The Navy and Gold won despite committing 15 turnovers, the second most they have given up over this six-game winning streak
Up Next
Merrimack continues its two-game homestand on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. when American International arrives in North Andover. 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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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
