| Matchup |
Merrimack (13-8, 7-1 NEC) vs.
St. Francis Brooklyn (10-10, 4-4 NEC) |
| Date/Time |
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 // 7 p.m. |
| Venue |
North Andover, Mass. // Hammel Court (Tickets) |
| Multimedia |
Watch // Live Stats |
| Social |
Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Coming off its weekend bye from Northeast Conference (NEC) action, the first-place Merrimack College men's basketball team resumes league play on Thursday night when they welcome St. Francis Brooklyn to campus. Tip-off at Hammel Court is set for 7 p.m. on campus.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
- A general admission ticket for Thursday's game costs $7
- All faculty/staff, military, senior and youth tickets cost $5
- Seating at Hammel Court is all general admission
- Tickets can be purchased in person or online here
- GAME PROMOTION: Commemorative Northwestern Giveaway
- The Merrimack Marketing and Promotions team will be distributing a commemorative poster to celebrate the men's basketball team's historic win at Northwestern earlier this season
- The first 100 fans in attendance with receive a poster, recognizing the program's first-ever Division I win!
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
St. Francis has won three of its last four games to bring its NEC record up to .500 at 4-4 through eight games. They rank in the middle of the pack in the NEC in both scoring offense and defense, but put up 78 points and 86 points respectively in recent wins over Robert Morris and Saint Francis University. Individually they have four scorers who rank among the top 20 in the NEC in points per game led by 14.5 per contest by Chauncey Hawkins; the Terriers are the only team in the NEC with four players among the top 20 in scoring average.
HISTORY AGAINST SFBK
Merrimack will once again face a program for the first time in school history on Thursday. The Terriers and Warriors have never met, and will meet twice in two week as the Warriors will visit SFBK two weeks from Thursday to make their first trek to Brooklyn.
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (13-8, 7-1 NEC) |
St. Francis (10-10, 4-4 NEC) |
| Scoring Offense |
63.1 |
71.2 |
| Scoring Defense |
61.3 |
71.6 |
| Field-Goal % |
41.9% |
43.0% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
43.7% |
44.3% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
31.3% |
30.8% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
31.0% |
36.7% |
| 3-PT Field Goals (Made-Attempts) |
155-495 |
131-426 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
69.9% |
72.8% |
| Winning Percentage |
.619 |
.500 |
| Rebounding Margin |
-8.1 |
-0.1 |
| Assists/Game |
12.3 |
12.4 |
| Steals/Game |
10.5 |
6.2 |
| Turnovers/Game |
11.8 |
12.8 |
| Blocks/Game |
2.6 |
4.1 |
| Total Fouls |
354 |
367 |
MOST WINS EVER?
Merrimack is nearing an unprecedented mark as it moves through its first-ever Division I season. The Warriors need four wins over the remainder of the regular season to eclipse Cal Baptist's 16-win campaign as the most ever for a first-year team reclassifying to Division I. Merrimack has nearly one-upped Cal Baptist already as the Warriors have 12 wins against DI opponents already, which is how many Cal Baptist had in 2018-19. The Lancer won four games against non-DI foes.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
Merrimack joins Cal Baptist and North Alabama as programs going through the reclassification process to Division I. As part of the process, the Warriors will not be postseason eligible in the NEC and not be able to compete in the conference tournament; Merrimack will, however, count in the regular season standings and have an opportunity to claim a NEC Regular Season Championship. The Warriors also will not appear in the national statistics until the reclassification process completes ahead of the 2023-24 season. In men's basketball, the Warriors are eligible for select postseason tournament such as the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and the College Insider Tournament (CIT).
THE WARRIORS ARE STREAKING
Merrimack's current six-game winning streak is tied for the longest for the program in head coach
Joe Gallo's tenure, matching a six-game stretch of victories in 2016-17, Gallo's first season. Merrimack last won at least seven games in a row during the 2009-10 season when the Warriors rattled off 11 straight triumphs. The Warriors have the 18th longest active winning streak in the nation.
THE NEW ASSIST KING
With six helpers on against Boston University on Sunday, Dec. 29,
Juvaris Hayes surpassed Darren Duncan '10 as the program's all-time assists leader. Hayes enters Monday with 874 career helpers. He ranks second in the NEC in assists per game (5.7)
PUTTING THE NEC IN THE ZONE
Led by the nation's leader in steals in
Juvaris Hayes (80), the Warriors' defense has dominated during NEC play. The Warriors led the conference in turnover margin (+5.6) and steals per game (10.5), averaging nearly three more steals than any other team. Merrimack also has the league's best scoring defense at 61.3 points per game. Nationally, Merrimack ranks fourth in turnover margin and tied for fourth in steals per game.
THE RETURN OF THE ROAD WARRIORS
With Merrimack's current run, the Warriors became the first NEC team since Wagner in 2017-18 to sweep the daunted "Western PA" trip to Robert Morris and Saint Francis. The Warriors have seven true road victories on the year, sitting in a tie for second nationwide in road victories including with undefeated in top-ranked San Diego State. William and Mary and Stephen F. Austin lead the land with eight road wins
LOU HENSON AWARD MID-SEASON WATCHLIST
Another prestigious recognition bestowed to Hayes was a spot on the Lou Henson Award mid-season Watch List, which was announced last Thursday. The point guard was one of 50 players named to the list, which is given to the nation's top mid-major player at year's end. Hayes was one of three players from the NEC named on the watch list, as well.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Merrimack is tied with Illinois State and East Tennessee State with eight different leading scorers on the season. Senior
Idris Joyner became Merrimack's eighth different player to lead the team in scoring at Robert Morris (1/4), and has since done it in five out of the last seven games. Senior
Jaleel Lord leads the team with seven occurrences as the Warriors' top scorer.
DRIS IS COOKING IN CONFERENCE
Joyner has been Merrimack's top scorer in conference play, averaging over 15 points per game. His in-league scoring average has increased his overall scoring average to over 10 points per game, aided by a career-best 28-point performance on Monday at Saint Francis. He was named College Sports Madness NEC Player of the Week for his efforts last week.
Up Next:
The Warriors immediately return home to face Long Island University on campus Saturday at 4 p.m. The contest will be celebrated as Kids Day presented by Pilot Pen USA and serve as Merrimack's "Gold Rush T-Shirt Giveaway" with the first 500 fans receiving a Gold Merrimack t-shirt sponsored by Cedar's.
