Strong Second Half Pushes Men's Basketball to 84-65 Win at LIU Post Wednesday
Links: Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Five players scored in double figures and senior forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as the Merrimack College men's basketball team returned from a 19-day layoff with a 84-65 victory over LIU Post from the Pratt Recreation Center on Wednesday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 84, LIU Post 65
Records: Merrimack (6-6, 1-5 NE-10) | LIU Post (9-3, 4-0 ECC)
Location: Brookville, N.Y. | Pratt Recreation Center
How It Happened
The Warriors aimed to end 2015 on a high when they took on the regionally ranked Pioneers in their final non-conference game of the season. It took nearly four minutes into the game for the Navy and Gold to score but a free throw from JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) and consecutive triples from Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) and Strickland made it 7-3 Merrimack after four minutes.
With the Warriors up 10-5, the hosts scored seven unanswered points to snatch the lead back at 12-10 at the 13:29 mark. Devon McMillan then sunk his second bucket of the opening stanza to make it 19-15 Pioneers with nine minutes to play in the half.
Facing a 28-21 deficit with 4:48 remaining, Merrimack went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 30-all. Strickland scored the first six points of the run, while senior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) knocked in a three-pointer to even the score with 2:29 on the clock.
With time winding down in the half, freshman Troy McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) sank a trey as time expired to give the Warriors a 40-37 advantage. Strickland led all scorers with 14 first-half points.
The Warriors used an early 10-0 second-half run to pull away from the Pioneers. Hammel scored five of the 10 points while Solano ended the spurt with free throws to make it a 51-39 game with less than 16 minutes to play. Later in the half Merrimack scored six unanswered headlined by a dunk from Solano to build a 19-point advantage, 60-41, with 14:30 left.
At the 8:47 mark Kennedy hit his fifth field goal of the afternoon to enter double figures at 10 points to go along with 14 boards at that point for his second double-double of the season. Three minutes later freshman Ryan Boulter (Mansfield, Mass.) connected on back-to-back threes to give the Warriors their largest lead of 21 points, 76-55.
The Warriors went on to win by a final of 84-65 to improve to 6-6 on the season and finish their non-conference slate with a 5-1 mark.
Inside The Numbers
- Kennedy is now averaging 10.5 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game over the last two contests, totaling 21 points and 29 rebounds against the Pioneers and the Ravens of Franklin Pierce. Merrimack is now 4-1 this season when Kennedy records at least 10 rebounds in a game
- Hammel and Strickland tied for the game high with 24 points apiece. Hammel made nine field goals and shot 75 percent from beyond the arc. Eleven of Strickland's 24 points came from the charity stripe to go along with six rebounds and five assists
- Solano returned from a two-game absence to record 10 points in 21 minutes of action. Four of Merrimack's five starters finished in double figures
- Boulter scored his most points since he recorded a season-high 16 against Concordia in the second game of the season, hitting three of his five three-point attempts
- The Merrimack defense limited LIU Post to just one triple on 11 attempts in the second stanza. The Pioneers finished with 28 points over the final 20 minutes after 37 in the opening half
Up Next
The Warriors return to Hammel Court on Saturday afternoon when Merrimack hosts Assumption at 3 p.m. in Northeast-10 action.
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