Men's Basketball Sees Comeback Bid Fall Short vs. Southern Connecticut Tuesday, 80-77
Links: Highlights | Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team and Southern Connecticut State battled in a tightly played second half, featuring six lead changes and four ties, but the visiting Owls prevailed by going on a 9-2 run with under four minutes to play and left with an 80-77 victory from Hammel Court on Tuesday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference play.
The Basics
Score: Southern CT 80, Merrimack 77
Records: Merrimack (8-8, 3-7 NE-10) | Southern CT (13-3, 8-1 NE-10)
Location: North Andover, Mass. | Hammel Court
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "We knew their athleticism and length would play a factor and knew our guys had to be careful out there. Southern were able to win some 50-50 balls, and get out in transition, which I thought was the difference in the game."
How It Happened
The second game of the hoops doubleheader between Merrimack and Southern Connecticut capped off Education Day on campus, with the Warriors and Owls playing in front of 200 youths from the local community.
Merrimack got off to a strong start, leading 8-4 four minutes in courtesy of six points from forward Anthony Barry (Uxbridge, Mass.), who played one of his best halves of basketball this season over the first 20 minutes, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds.
From there, Southern went on a 10-2 run to take its first lead of the day at 14-10 with 12:58 remaining in the game. With 10:13 left in the opening stanza, sophomore Kyle Howes (Maynard, Mass.) came off the bench to hit a left-wing jumper to make it 19-15 SCSU, but from there the Owls went on a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 28-15.
Freshmen Ryan Boulter (Mansfield, Mass.) and Jordan Thornton (Dumfries, Va.) scored over the final five minutes of the half, while JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) recorded Merrimack's final five points of the half to cut the deficit to seven, 43-36, at the intermission.
The second half began with a three-pointer from Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) and another bucket from Strickland made the contest a one-possession game on two occasions, with the score reading 45-43 after Strickland's lay-in. The Owls maintained their lead however, as sixth man Isaiah McLeod drilled a three with 11:31 to go to put the visitors up five, 56-51.
A stretch of seven straight points from there gave the Warriors their first lead of the half at 58-56 after a pair of free throws from forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.). Seven straight points for the Owls swung momentum back in their favor, but consecutive three-pointers from Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) made it 65-64 with 7:24 remaining.
The Navy and Gold held a lead as late as the 4:21 mark, but over the next 2:26 the Owls scored nine of 11 points to take the lead back for good at 78-73. Strickland went coast-to-coast for a layup with under a minute to go to make it a three-point game, and Merrimack forced a miss on the Owls' next possession, but Southern got the offensive rebound to clinch the game.
Inside The Numbers
- Strickland flirted with a triple-double on Tuesday, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. The Warriors' senior point guard currently ranks second in the NE-10 in both total assists (95) and assists-per-game (5.9)
- Four Warriors finished in double figures, with Barry, Hammel and Solano joining Strickland with at least 10 points. Hammel was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line as Merrimack hit its first 17 free throws as a team
- Defensively, the Navy and Gold limited Southern Connecticut to 80 points or fewer for only the third time this season. The Owls entered the game as the 10th-best scoring offense nationally, averaging over 90 points-per-game
- Preseason All-American Michael Mallory finished 4-of-10 from beyond the arc, but the Warriors defended the three-pointer well against his teammates, as the rest of the Owls made just 1-of-16 from three-point range
- Kennedy tied for the game high with 13 boards. He now has at least 10 caroms in five of his last six games, averaging 12.5 rebounds-per-game during that stretch
Up Next
The Warriors continue their trek through the Southwest Division on Saturday afternoon when the Navy and Gold take on Le Moyne from Syracuse, N.Y. at 2 p.m.
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