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Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The visiting Franklin Pierce University Ravens shot 59 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range, scoring themselves an 18-point win on Thursday evening over the Merrimack College men's basketball program from Hammel Court. With the loss the Warriors remained one game out of first place in the Northeast Division with four games left in the regular season.
The Basics
Score: Franklin Pierce 92
, Merrimack 74
Records: Merrimack (15-9, 11-6 NE10) | Franklin Pierce (13-9, 8-9 NE10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
NE10 Postseason Outlook:
The top-five programs in the Northeast Division advance to the NE10 Championship. The fourth-place finisher hosts the No. 5 seed from the Southwest Division, while the fifth-place finisher travels to the No. 4 seed out of the Southwest for the First Round. Seeds No. 1-3 earn byes to the Quarterfinals. Merrimack has five games remaining in the regular season
- Saint Anselm (17-6, 12-5)
- Merrimack (15-9, 11-6)
- Stonehill (14-9, 10-7)
- SNHU (13-9, 9-8)
- Bentley (12-10, 9-8)
- Franklin Pierce (13-9, 8-9)
- Assumption (7-16, 3-14)
- Saint Michael's (5-17, 2-15)
Marquee Moments:
- With the contest squared at 21-21 with under nine minutes left in the first half, the Ravens outscored the Warriors, 20-9, over the remainder of the first to take a 41-30 advantage to the locker room
- The Navy and Gold did not trail by fewer than double figures over the remainder of the night. The Ravens kept the Warriors at arm's length by shooting 17-of-30 in the second half, and missing only four free-throw attempts (13-17)
Rapid Recap
- With the score tied at 9-9, the Ravens scored seven straight to open a 16-9 advantage. A few minutes later and the Warriors still down seven, Merrimack used a 7-0 run of its own to tie the game up at 21-all at the 8:41 mark.
- The Ravens immediately answered with an 11-2 run that pushed the visitors' lead back to nine, 32-23, with under six minutes left. The team's traded points over the remainder of the half, entering the intermission with the Ravens owning a 41-30 advantage
- Freshman Khalief Crawford hit a three-pointer early in the second half to keep Merrimack's deficit at 11, but the Ravens punched back again, using a 10-0 stretch to build a 21-point lead with 15:45 remaining. The Warriors called timeout facing a 56-35 deficit
- Over the next four-plus minutes, the Navy and Gold worked the margin down to 14, 61-47, capped off by a breakaway dunk for redshirt-senior Tawayne Anderson Jr. As they had done previously, however, the Ravens regained momentum over the next four-minute period, building their lead back to 22 at 76-54 with 5:25 remaining
- Freshmen David Giuliani and Michael Mahoney played a couple minutes each off the bench in the final minutes, with Mahoney scoring his first collegiate points with two minutes to play in the game
Notes and Notables
- All five of Franklin Pierce's starters scored in double figures. Senior Mike McDevitt posted a team-high 21 points while Doyin Fadojutimi notched a double-double of 19 points and 13 boards
- Sophomore Juvaris Hayes scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting, hitting both of his three-point attempts. He added seven assists, five caroms and four steals
- Hayes set a new career marker by reaching 90 steals on the season. It is the most for the program in the last 17 years, and the first 90-steal season for a NE10 student-athlete since the 2004-05 campaign
- Junior Troy McLaughlin contributed 10 points off the bench, Merrimack's only other double-figure scorer
Up Next
The Navy and Gold host Southern New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon for Alumni Day at 3 p.m. at Hammel Court. All alumni interested in attending the event are asked to
register here.
