Solano Nets 2,000th Career Point; Men's Basketball Tripped Up by SNHU, 89-75
Links: Highlights | Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – With a free throw in the second half, senior guard Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) of the Merrimack College men's basketball team achieved something that's only been accomplished on five previous occasions in program lore, netting his 2,000th career point on Saturday against Southern New Hampshire. The Penmen prevailed in the game, however, downing the Navy and Gold by a 89-75 margin.
The Basics
Score: Southern N.H. 89, Merrimack 75
Records: Merrimack (13-11, 8-10 NE-10) | Southern N.H. (16-9, 12-6 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
NE-10 Postseason Outlook:
The top five teams in the Northeast Division advance to the NE-10 Championship, with the fifth seed playing the fourth seed out of the Southwest in the opening round.
1) Bentley (14-4)
2) Saint Anselm (13-5)
3) Stonehill (13-5)
4) Southern New Hampshire (12-6)
5) Franklin Pierce (11-7)
6) Merrimack (8-10)
7) Saint Michael's (4-14)
8) Assumption (2-16)
How It Happened
The Penmen surged forward in the first half, shooting at an impeccable rate over the first 10 minutes of the game. With the score at 17-10 in favor of the visitors, the Penmen used an 11-2 run to take a 28-12 advantage with 11:52 remaining in the opening stanza. Southern New Hampshire hit 10-of-13 from the field over the first 8:08 of action, including their first six shots of the afternoon.
Sophomore Kyle Howes (Maynard, Mass.) came off the bench to net a pair of treys, the second of which came from well beyond the arc, cutting the deficit to eight points at 35-27 with less than seven minutes remaining in the half. At the 4:58 mark, a layup from JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) made it 40-33, but the Penmen responded by hitting three straight triples on consecutive possessions to open a 49-33 gap.
Rodney Sanders' jumper made it 55-41 at halftime. Solano finished the first 20 minutes with eight points, four away from reaching 2,000.
Neither team scored over the first 3:30 of the second half. Senior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) sunk a triple at the 15:11 mark to make it 59-47, but as they did all afternoon, the Penmen punched back with a triple from BJ Cardarelli to push their advantage back to 15.
Solano hit a three-pointer at the midway point of the second stanza to bring his career total to 1,999 points. With 10:47 to play, Solano hit 1-of-2 from the charity striple, reaching the 2,000-point plateau and receiving a prolonged cheer from the Warriors faithful.
The Penmen controlled the game for the remainder of the second half, seeing their lead grow to 25 points. The Warriors outscored SNHU by 11 points over the final 7:36 of the game, bringing the divisional battle to its 89-75 final. Four Warriors finished in double figures, led by Hammel with 18.
Inside The Numbers
- Solano finished his day with 17 points and eight rebounds, bringing his career scoring total to 2,005 points with three contests remaining. He needs 45 points over the remainder of the season to finish in third on the all-time list and score the most points for the Warriors since Joe Dickson graduated in 1984 with 2,130 career points
- The 2,000 points also brings Solano to even more rarified air. He joins Dickson and Darin "Dee" Mency as the only players in program history with both 2,000 points and 500 rebounds at Merrimack. He currently is 12th in Warriors history with 531 career boards
- The Penmen got off to a hot start in the first half by shooting 55.6 percent from beyond the arc, connecting on 10 three-pointers. The visitors also benefitted from sharing the basketball, totaling 14 assists on 20 first-half field goals
- Senior forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) returned to action, totaling 12 rebounds and six points in 18 minutes off the bench
- Strickland finished one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing the afternoon with 14 points and nine rebounds
Up Next
The Warriors begin a two-game week out in Worcester where Merrimack will face Assumption College on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
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