| Matchup |
Merrimack (7-3, 4-1 NE10) at
Saint Michael's (1-7, 1-5 NE10) |
| Date/Time |
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017 (3:30 p.m.) |
| Venue |
Ross Sports Center // Colchester, Vt. |
| Multimedia |
Live Stats // Video // Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – On the heels of its escape from Franklin Pierce with a 60-59 win on Tuesday night, the Merrimack College men's basketball program returns to the court on Saturday afternoon when the Warriors travel to the Ross Sports Center in Colchester, Vt., battling the Saint Michael's Purple Knights at 3:30 p.m. in a Northeast Division tilt.
Last Time Out:
- Mired in a defensive, physical battle for most of the evening, the Warriors used a 14-6 run over the final eight minutes to turn a 53-46 deficit into a 60-59 win against the Ravens
- Sophomore point guard Juvaris Hayes (Paterson, N.J.) scored 10 of his game-high 15 points in the second half, including the game-winning fastbreak layup with 25 seconds remaining to put Merrimack ahead for good
- Freshman guard Khalief Crawford (Linden, N.J.) posted the best game of his young career, scoring 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including a key corner triple that tied the game at 54-all with four minutes to play
Team Leaders:
- Hayes currently ranks fifth in scoring in the NE10, moving back into the team lead at 19.1 points per game. The point guard is shooting 50 percent from the field, averaging the fourth-most field goals per game (7.6) in the league
- Nationally and within the NE10, Hayes is the top distributor with 88 total assists for an average of 8.8 per contest. He sits at 375 total assists, nearing 400 for his career
- With 35 steals through 10 games, the Paterson native is also the country's leader in thefts. His 3.50 steals per game average ranks second nationwide
- Offensively, the Warriors maintained their top-five ranking in field-goal percentage (47.6) and three-point percentage (39.4)
- Defensively, the Warriors are forcing their opponents into 15.6 turnovers per game, the second-most in the NE10
The Purple Knights:
- Led by the NE10's leading scorer in Levi Holmes III, the Purple Knights enter Saturday's tilt with a 1-7 overall record, with the one victory coming in divisional play
- Not only is Holmes the conference's top offensive player at 25.4 points per game, he ranks third nationwide in scoring
- Holmes has compiled impressive shooting splits of .519/.508/.912, hitting a conference-best 32 three-pointers
- Defensively, the Purple Knights have allowed 83.9 points per game. Teams are shooting 50.5 percent from the field against Saint Michael's and 41.2 percent from three-point range
The Series:
- Saint Michael's owns a 60-42 advantage in the all-time series
- Merrimack, however, has won four of the last five games against the Purple Knights, including a sweep of the season series last year
- The Warriors won last year's game in Vermont, 64-60, behind near double-doubles for Hayes and Kyle Howes (Maynard, Mass.). The former finished the day with 11 points and nine assists, while the latter totaled 11 points and eight rebounds
Up Next
Merrimack will close divisional play with a pivotal home game on Tuesday night against Bentley University at 7:30 p.m. from Hammel Court.
