Links: Box Score
Videos: Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Outside of the first basketball of the contest on Saturday afternoon, the Merrimack College men's basketball program never trailed as the Warriors scored over 80 points for the sixth straight game in Merrimack's 89-64 Northeast-10 Conference triumph over Saint Michael's College from Hammel Court.
Five Warriors scored in double figures including a game-high tying 19 points in a near triple-double effort for junior
Juvaris Hayes, who added a career-high tying nine steals and eight assists. The nine thefts also tied the nation's single-game high. Merrimack shot 50 percent the field – which featured 65 percent (28-43) shooting from two-point range – and forced the Purple Knights into 28 turnovers, which resulted in 37 points for the hosts. It marked the most turnovers forced by the program in over seven years.
The Basics
Score:
Merrimack 89, Saint Michael's 64
Records: Merrimack (6-5, 4-3 NE10) | Saint Michael's (3-6, 1-6 NE10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
Rapid Recap
- Saint Michael's hung around in the early portion of the game as a three-point play moved the visitors within four, 17-13, at the midway point of the opening stanza. Five different Warriors scored in the first 10 minutes, including five points for sophomore Khalief Crawford. Junior Idris Joyner added four points, and hit his first three shots overall
- Merrimack's lead reached double digits for the first time with 5:23 remaining in the first half. The Warriors increased their lead from four to 13 thanks to a 9-0 run that featured buckets from Joyner, sophomore Devin Jensen, senior Troy McLaughlin and freshman Mikey Watkins. Merrimack then proceeded to end the half on a 7-2 spurt, brings a 41-25 advantage to its locker room after Hayes closed the stanza with an old-fashioned three-point play
- The first 3:15 of the second half saw the hosts balloon their lead to 21 following another bucket from Joyner. Saint Michael's trimmed the margin to 17 points, but that was followed by an 8-0 Merrimack run that ended with a McLaughlin jumper and brought the Warriors' edge to 25 points, 58-33
- The deficit never dipped below 20 over the remainder of the afternoon. The led grew to 30 points for the first time, 65-35, following a lay-in by Watkins at the 10:35 mark. Five minutes later Merrimack posted its largest lead of the game, 81-45, following a fast-break dunk from Hayes
- The final eight minutes saw the Warriors go deep to their bench as freshmen Travis Stoll and Justin Connolly made their collegiate debuts while classmates Matthew Chang, Aaron Jaynes and Ryan Miller all made their second appearances of the year. Connolly, Jaynes and Stoll all scored their first collegiate points, as well
Notes and Numbers
- Hayes tied the nation's single-game high with his nine steals on Saturday. The effort tied his career high from last December when the junior swiped nine possessions from the Bentley Falcons
- Merrimack became the fifth team in the country this season to record at least 20 steals in a game. The Warriors tied Western Washington for the fourth most steals in a game in 2018-19 (20)
- The Warriors forced 28 Saint Michael's turnovers, the most forced in a game by the program since 2011. The resulted in 37 points for Merrimack, and a 25-point edge in points off turnovers (37-12)
- Jensen scored a career-high 10 points off the bench, while the Warriors got a season-high 28 points for their reserves
- Joyner (13), Crawford (11) and Watkins (10) joined Hayes and Jensen in double figures. Joyner was nearly perfect from the field (6-7), and fell one rebound shy of a double-double
Up Next
Merrimack plays one non-conference game before a 19-day layoff, travelling to American International on Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off in Springfield, Mass.
