Men's Basketball Collects Much-Needed 78-61 Victory Over Bentley Tuesday Night
Links: Box Score | Bert Hammel Interview | JT Strickland Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Behind a balanced offensive attack and a strong defensive effort in the second half, the Merrimack College men's basketball team notched a 78-61 victory over Bentley University that improves its standing in the Northeast-Division playoff picture with just five games remaining in the regular season.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 78 | Bentley 61
Records: Merrimack (12-9, 7-9 NE-10) | Bentley (14-9, 9-8 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
NE-10 Postseason Outlook
Merrimack entered the game trailing Bentley by 2.5 games for fifth place in the Northeast Division, with the top-five teams advancing to the Northeast-10 Championship. With Franklin Pierce losing to Southern New Hampshire, the Warriors are only 0.5 games out of sixth place and 1.5 games out of fifth place. On Saturday the fifth-place Falcons take on Saint Michael's, while the sixth-place Ravens battle Saint Anselm.
1) Southern NH (15-6, 13-4)
2) Saint Michael's (15-6, 11-5)
3) Saint Anselm (14-6, 11-5)
4) Stonehill (15-7, 10-6)
5) Bentley (14-9, 9-8)
6) Franklin Pierce (13-10, 8-8)
7) Merrimack (12-9, 7-9)
8) Assumption (8-13, 5-11)
How It Happened
The first half saw both teams shoot effectively as Bentley shot 45.5 percent from the field, but Merrimack was able to one-up them with a 51.4 percentage from the field.
A Jate Cheshul three-point gave the Falcons a 13-10 lead at the 15:23 mark of the first half. After that Merrimack went on a 8-0 run, highlighted by a couple of highlight-reel plays. Junior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) hit a trey to tie the game. Then Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) threw down a dunk after snatching a steal off a pass from Shaq Phelps. The next play was one of the biggest and most impressive on the season. Solano attacked the basket off the dribble, while James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) sprinted down the baseline. Gelvis lobbed a perfect pass towards the hoop, which Kennedy slammed down for the alley-opp. The Warriors led, 18-13, with 12:05 to play in the half.
The Navy and Gold embarked on another 8-0 run that ended with a Chris Mendes (Somerset, Mass.) three-pointer to give the Warriors an 11-point lead at 31-20 with 9:14 left in the half. With 5:40 to go Kyle Howes (Maynard, Mass.) followed up a JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) three with a make from downtown as well to make it 37-25 with 5:40 to play in the first stanza.
Bentley battled back though, scoring nine of the final 14 points of the first half to cut the Warriors advantage to just six points, 44-38, at the halftime break. Four players scored at least eight points in the opening half for Merrimack, with Strickland leading the way with 10 points.
In the second half, it was Merrimack's defensive play that stole the headlines. The Warriors limited the Falcons to shoot just seven-of-24 from the field totaling 23 second-half points. Bentley committed 11 second-half turnovers, including a pair of steals from both Strickland and Kennedy.
The lead was still at single digits at 53-44 at the 14-minute mark of the second stanza, when Solano drove baseline and threw down his third and final dunk of the night. That bucket was part of an 11-0 run for Merrimack that turned a 50-44 game into a 61-44 contest. The run was capped off by a three-pointer from Hammel. The Valencia native would score 15 of Merrimack's final 19 points, which included three makes from beyond the arc.
With the victory, the Warriors improved to 7-9 in conference play while the Falcons fell to 9-8. Merrimack has a game in hand on the Falcons as the Warriors have five games remaining and Bentley only has four.
Inside The Numbers
- Four players finished in double figures for Merrimack, with Hammel leading the way with 22 points on five-of-eight from three-point range. The junior guard now has nine 20-point games this season and is averaging over 22 points per game over his last 10 contests
- Strickland ran the point as effectively as he has all season, finishing with 16 points and eight assists. He only turned the ball over twice while shooting six-of-10 from the field. He also added four rebounds and two blocks
- Solano and Kennedy combined for 23 points and 11 rebounds, with their thunderous dunks bringing Hammel Court to its feet multiple times. Solano shot seven-of-15 from the field while Kennedy made four of his nine attempts
- The rookie Howes was the other Warrior to finish in double figures, totaling 14 points to go along with five boards. Merrimack finished the game shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from three-point range
- The Warriors defensive effort should not go unnoticed. Bentley ended up shooting just 38.6 percent from the field, while making only six-of-26 attempts from beyond the arc. Both teams entered the game among the top-five teams in the league in scoring offense.
Up Next
Merrimack will take on Assumption on Saturday at 3 p.m., a team that they lost to on the road in December. 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. All tickets are general admission seating.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
