Men's Basketball Suffers Late Loss vs. AIC, 94-92, from Hammel Court Wednesday Night
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team led by double digits in the second half against American International, a team that entered the game a perfect 8-0 on the road, but the Warriors could not hold on, losing 94-92 from Hammel Court on Wednesday night.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 92 | AIC 94
Records: Merrimack (9-7, 4-7 NE-10) |AIC (13-3, 8-2 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "That was a tough game for us to take. It's always tough with the ones that you're up and it's close against a good team. They played really well, especially offensively and in the second half. We have to tighten things up on that end of the floor to compete against some of the best in the league. They made some big plays and we need to learn from it and get better on Saturday.
How It Happened
The Warriors came out firing, as it appeared that Merrimack would take down another one of the top teams from the Southwest Division, as they did on Saturday against Le Moyne.
The teams would exchange baskets over the first four minutes, when a Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) sunk a jumper to make it 11-10 in favor of the Warriors, their first lead of the night. That shot ignited a 10-0 run for Merrimack, headlined by back-to-back three-points from Hammel and Gelvis Solano (New York, N.Y.). Merrimack led 20-10 at the 11:27 mark of the first half.
At the 9:16 mark, Solano hit another trey to make it 25-14 Merrimack. Less than two minutes later, the Warriors junior and reigning Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week hit his third three-pointer of the half to give the Warriors their largest lead to that point, 30-16.
The largest lead of the half would come nearly five minutes later, when Hammel hit one from distance to make it 35-20, a fifteen-point lead for the Warriors. With 3:23, the Yellow Jackets chipped away at what had been a dominant first half for the home team. With a couple Warriors starters on the bench, the Yellow Jackets turned a 13-point deficit into a 40-34 halftime scored by outscoring the Navy and Gold by seven points over that span.
The first 1:29 of the second half went as most of the first half had progressed, with the Warriors beginning the second stanza on a 7-0 spurt. A Solano three-pointer at the 15:10 mark kept the lead at double digits, 53-43, and that shot started a stretch of eight consecutive points for the Harlem native.
Solano hit two free throws at the 14:14 mark, but after that the Yellow Jackets scampered on a 13-0 run to turn a 58-44 game into a 58-57 contest. Cameron Dobbs scored eight of his 20 second-half points during that stretch, and it wasn't until a Travonne Berry-Rogers (Lynn, Mass.) three-pointer with 11 minutes left that ended the run.
Two minutes later, Merrimack would extend the lead back to eight points at 67-59, with a Riley Calzonetti (Neptune City, N.J.) fastbreak layup bringing the crowd to its feet. Unfortunately for the Warriors, AIC scored the next nine points, all coming from the left-handed stroke from Dobbs, to tie the game at 67-all.
Bobby Harris, who scored all of his 13 points in the second stanza, hit a three-pointer to give AIC its first lead, 72-69, since the first few minutes of the first half. The Yellow Jackets held the advantage until less than five minutes to play when a James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) three-point play gave the Warriors a 81-79 lead. The game-winning bucket turned out to be a three-point play from Marcus Porter, giving the Yellow Jackets a 85-83 lead with 3:23 to go.
Merrimack did have a chance to tie the game, trailing 93-90, with the seconds ticking down. Hammel elected to pump face a three-point in the corner and drove to the hoop. He was fouled and hit the ensuing free throws, but there was not enough time left for Merrimack to get another possession.
Inside The Numbers
- Solano finished with 36 points on nine-of-21 from the field, including seven-for-13 from three-point range. It is the fifth time this season that Solano has scored at least 30 points in a game and he extends his streak of double-digit scoring efforts to 25 games. He also finished with 10 rebounds, his third double-double of the season
- Hammel finished second on the team with 23 points, the fifth time in his last six games that the junior has finished with at least 20 points. He shot 50 percent from the field, including three-of-seven from deep
- The Yellow Jackets improved to 9-0 on the road this season, utilizing a balanced attack. Five players scored in double figures, including 24 points off the bench. Dobbs and Harris combined for 33 points in the second half.
- The Yellow Jackets had the significant edge inside, outscoring the Warriors 44-18 in the paint
Up Next
Merrimack will travel down to Garden City, N.Y. where the Warriors will take on Adelphi University at 3:30 p.m.
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