Men's Basketball Falls in Double Overtime Thriller vs. Adelphi Saturday, 102-93
Links: Highlights | Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Freshman Jordan Thornton (Dumfries, Va.) headlined a myriad of personal accolades with a career-high 15 points for the Merrimack College men's basketball team in Saturday's double overtime thriller against Adelphi University in Northeast-10 Conference play. The Panthers pulled away using a 7-0 run in the second overtime before defeating the Warriors after 50 minutes of play from Hammel Court, 102-93.
The Basics
Score: Adelphi 102, Merrimack 93
Records: Merrimack (10-9, 5-8 NE-10) | Adelphi (16-4, 8-4 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
In a game that featured 17 lead changes and 10 ties, neither team led by more eight until late in the second overtime. The Panthers led by two points, 46-44, after the first 20 minutes, but the Warriors scored seven straight points early in the second to take a 51-49 lead, beginning the back-and-forth flurry between the cross-divisional opponents.
Panthers point guard Anthony Libroia, who finished with a triple-double, converted a three-point play at the 9:31 mark to tie the game at 65, but junior forward Anthony Barry (Uxbridge, Mass.) answered with a three-point play of his own to give the Warriors a 68-65 lead with 8:43 to go. Three minutes later and after the Panthers cut their deficit to one, Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) sunk a left-wing three to push the lead back to four points, 73-69.
Adelphi responded with a 6-0 spurt to swing momentum in its favor, but consecutive buckets from Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) and Ryan Boulter (Mansfield, Mass.) gave the Warriors the advantage back at 77-75 with 3:10 to play. Late in regulation, the Panthers hit back-to-back triples from Tavon Ginyard and Manny Suarez to take an 82-80, but Hammel answered with a two-pointer of his own with 62 seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime.
In the first extra session, Thornton converted an offensive rebound into two points and JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) sunk two from the charity stripe and the Warriors led by four after two minutes. The Panthers absorbed the blow and responded, with Jack Laffey's three-pointer and another bucket from Libroia giving the visitors an 87-86 lead. Strickland was fouled with 19 seconds remaining, but only made 1-of-2 at the free-throw line, ushering in the second overtime.
With the score tied at 90-all and 3:29 on the clock, Libroia's free throws gave the visitors the lead for good, marking the 17th and final lead change. From there, the Panthers collected seven unanswered points, scoring 12 of the game's final 15 points to put away the Warriors.
It looked like the game was destined to be an offensive shootout after the opening stanza. Both team's posted field-goal percentages of 49 percent or better, with Adelphi making 12 three-pointers in 20 minutes. Strickland led Merrimack with 10 points and six assists after 20 minutes, while Thornton contributed eight first-half points.
Inside The Numbers
- Six of the eight Warriors who graced the court on Saturday finished in double figures. Thornton played in a career-high 26 minutes with senior forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) battling foul trouble throughout the afternoon. The rookie center set season highs in points (15), field goals (7), field-goal attempts (12) and minutes (26)
- Boulter, another one of Merrimack's freshmen class, also set a season high with his 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting, both of which are also career highs. He played in 34 minutes off the bench, as Boulter, Thornton and fellow rookie Troy McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) combined for all of Merrimack's 36 bench points
- Strickland powered the Warriors attack throughout the day, playing in all 50 minutes as Merrimack's floor general. He led the team with 19 points and nearly posted a triple-double with eight rebounds and eight assists. The matchup against the Panthers pitted the NE-10's leaders in assists per game with Strickland and Libroia entering the day tied with 5.7 dimes per outing
- Solano etched his name into another area of Merrimack's record book, as his 12 rebounds gave him 502 caroms for his career. He is the 16th player in program history to record at least 500 boards, and needs 94 points to join the 2000-point club. He has a chance to become just the third player in program history to record both 2000 points and 500 rebounds
- On the day when he was honored for becoming the 42nd player in program history with 1,000 points, Hammel totaled 11 points in 46 minutes, including the equalizing bucket that sent the game to overtime
- Adelphi entered the day with over 50 percent of its field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc and the did not disappoint. Fifty-two of the Panthers' 71 field-goal attempts came from three-point range, making 22 of them. Libroia finished with 23 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds while Laffey led the squad with 25 on seven three-pointers
Up Next
The Navy and Gold conclude cross-divisional play on Tuesday night when they travel to Springfield, Mass. to take on American International at 7:30 p.m.
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