NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team is primed for its home national television debut when the Warriors host Sacred Heart University on Friday evening at 5 p.m. at Hammel Court. The first-place Warriors welcome the fourth-place Pioneers to Hammel Court as Merrimack control its own destiny for the NEC Regular Season Championship with three games remaining.
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
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Sacred Heart has won six of their last eight games with the two defeats in that span coming by one possession each. The Pioneers have a modest two-game winning streak, moving them within 1.5 games of second place in the conference; if Merrimack stays in first place, the NEC's second-place finisher will be the top seed in the conference tournament. Junior E.J. Anosike has been a star for Sacred Heart, scoring in double figures in 13 straight games while having a double-double in 10 of those 13 contests.
HISTORY AGAINST SACRED HEART
The Warriors and Pioneers resumed an all-time series that last saw Merrimack and Sacred Heart play during the 1997-98 season. Sacred Heart owns a 13-4 edge in the all-time series with the first meeting occuring in 1966, a 115-96 Merrimack victory. The Warriors' win earlier in the year at Sacred Heart was the first in program history at Sacred Heart
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (18-10, 12-3 NEC) |
Sacred Heart (16-11, 9-5 NEC) |
| Scoring Offense |
62.8 |
74.0 |
| Scoring Defense |
60.2 |
69.6 |
| Field-Goal % |
42.0% |
43.5% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
42.8% |
41.3% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
33.4% |
32.6% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
30.9% |
31.9% |
| 3-PT Field Goals (Made-Attempts) |
218-652 |
203-622 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
67.9% |
74.3% |
| Winning Percentage |
.643 |
.593 |
| Rebounding Margin |
-7.2 |
+5.6 |
| Assists/Game |
12.8 |
13.6 |
| Steals/Game |
10.0 |
5.1 |
| Turnovers/Game |
12.1 |
14.1 |
| Blocks/Game |
2.8 |
4.0 |
| Total Fouls |
468 |
432 |
MOST WINS EVER!
After last Thursday's victory at St. Francis Brooklyn, the men's basketball team set a new NCAA record for wins by a first-year program reclassifying to Division I. The Warriors bested Cal Baptist's 16-win mark last year to establish the new record. Seventeen of the Warriors' 18 wins are against DI competition; last year, Cal Baptist only had 12 triumphs over DI foes. The Warriors remained alive in their bid to become the second first-year program reclassifying to Division I to win a Regular Season Conference Championship. Birmingham Southern accomplished the feat in the Big South in 2003-04.
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 are eligible for select postseason tournament such as the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and the College Insider Tournament (CIT).
JUVARIS NEARING THE STEALS RECORD
Senior point guard
Juvaris Hayes is closing in on NCAA history. Hayes needs just seven more steals this season to set a new NCAA record, previously held by Tennyson Whitted of Ramapo College (DII). Hayes needs to reach 448 career steals to tie the record and 449 to break it; he enters this weekend with 442 thefts including a Division I high 106 steals in 2019-20, averaging nearly four steals per game.
THE NEW ASSIST KING
With six helpers on against Boston University on Sunday, Dec. 29, Hayes surpassed Darren Duncan '10 as the program's all-time assists leader. Hayes enters Tuesday with 933 career helpers. He moved into the NEC lead recently, and now has a conference-leading 179 assists on the season. He recently became the 22nd player in NCAA history with 900 career assists.
PUTTING THE NEC IN THE ZONE
Led by the nation's leader in steals in
Juvaris Hayes (106), the Warriors' defense has dominated during NEC play. The Warriors led the conference in turnover margin (+5.4) and steals per game (10.0), averaging nearly three more steals than any other team. Merrimack also has the league's best scoring defense at 60.2 points per game including 58.3 in league games. Nationally, Merrimack ranks first in steal rate, fourth in steals per game and turnover rate.
THE RETURN OF THE ROAD WARRIORS
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 nine true road victories on the year, sitting in a tie for second in the nation in road wins. Merrimack needs one more win on the road to become the first NEC team since 2015-16 with double-digit road victories.
MOST WINS IN MASSACHUSETTS
Merrimack begins the weekend with 18 victories on the season, the most of the eight Division I basketball schools in Massachusetts. The Warriors have two more wins than Boston University and Harvard, who rank second in the state with 16 wins. The Warriors also have the third most victories in all of New England, trailing only Vermont (21) and Rhode Island (19). Merrimack and Yale share the third spot with 18 wins each.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Merrimack is tied with Illinois State and East Tennessee State with eight different leading scorers on the season. Senior
Jaleel Lord leads Merrimack by leading the team in scoring eight times this season. Merrimack has had a different leading scorer in four of its last five games.
1,000 CAREER POINTS
Senior
Jaleel Lord became the 46th player in Merrimack history to score 1,000 career points after his performance on Tuesday at Bryant. He ended the night with 1,012 points following a 15-point outing. Lord has been feeling it of late, hitting at least two 3-pointers in his last 10 games, shooting 28-61 (.459) from deep during the run.
Up Next:
Merrimack has a quick turnaround as it visits Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off in Emmitsburg, Md. is set for 3 p.m.
