NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball program will hit the road for the first time in 2021 when the Warriors visit Mount St. Mary's for a pair of Northeast Conference (NEC) games this week. Thursday's contest begins at 7 p.m. followed by a Friday afternoon matchup at 4 p.m. Both games will be played at Knott Arena, the home of the Mountaineers, in Emmitsburg, Md.
LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors returned to action last week for their first two games of 2020-21, splitting a pair of NEC games against Sacred Heart University. The first contest went to overtime, with Merrimack prevailing by a 97-90 final. Six Merrimack players scored in double figures including the first career double-double for sophomore
Jordan Minor (20pts & 12reb). Sacred Heart won the second contest, 68-62, overcoming Merrimack's 32-26 halftime lead. Sophomore
Mykel Derring led Merrimack with 13 points.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Mount St. Mary's has defeated Morgan State and Saint Francis University this season, but has lost five of its last six games including back-to-back tilts last week at St. Francis Brooklyn. Junior Damian Chong Qui leads the team with 13.6 points per game, and also paces the squad with 31 total assists. The Mountaineers are last in the conference in scoring offense (59.6 ppg), but are first in scoring defense, allowing just 65.9 points per game.
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (1-1, 1-1 NEC) |
Mount St. Mary's (2-5, 1-2 NEC) |
| Scoring Offense |
79.5 |
59.6 |
| Scoring Defense |
79.0 |
65.9 |
| Field-Goal % |
50.4% |
41.2% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
45.5% |
44.5% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
32.6% |
29.5% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
45.3% |
31.6% |
| 3-PT Field Goals (Made-Attempts) |
15-46 |
44-146 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
51.9% |
70.0% |
| Winning Percentage |
1-1 (.500) |
2-5 (.286) |
| Rebounding Margin |
-9.5 |
1.4 |
| Assists/Game |
13.0 |
9.7 |
| Steals/Game |
10.0 |
4.3 |
| Turnovers/Game |
9.5 |
14.3 |
| Blocks/Game |
3.0 |
3.7 |
| Total Fouls |
34 |
110 |
MAKE CHAOS
The Warriors' calling card last season was their stifling defense, which made a name for itself regionally and nationally. Merrimack led the NEC in scoring defense, 3-point percentage defense, steals, and turnover margin. With 20 steals last week, the Warriors already lead the conference with 10.0 thefts per game.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday and Friday will be the fourth and fifth games respectively in the all-time series between Merrimack and Mount St. Mary's. Last year's two meetings were the first since 1985-86, when Mount St. Mary's defeated the Warriors, 82-78. The two teams split last year's matchup, with the home team winning each time. Merrimack has yet to win at The Mount. In Merrimack's win last season, Derring and Minor combined for 22 points off the bench on 8-of-15 shooting.
CAREER PERFORMANCES LAST WEEK
Last Thursday saw many of Merrimack's regular set new single-game career highs:
- Jordan Minor: Points (20), Rebounds (12); previous career highs were 15 & 9, respectively
- Mikey Watkins: Points (19); previous career high was 18
- Ziggy Reid: Rebounds (9); Previous career high was eight
- Devin Jensen: Steals (4); Previous career high was three
- Watkins also tied his single-game career highs in assists (6) and field goals made (8)
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Warriors replaced their three lost starters with three true freshman:
James Berry III,
Malik Edmead and
Ryan Isaacson. Both Edmead and Isaacson debuted last week against Sacred Heart, with Edmead stealing the show. The first-year guard averaged 19.5 minutes per game off the bench, scoring 27 points over two tilts including 17 in his collegiate debut. Edmead enters the week as the team's second-ranked scorer at 13.5 points per game while shooting 54.5 percent (12-22).
HEAD COACHES AT THEIR ALMA MATER
Head coach
Joe Gallo is one of 35 coaches nationwide to currently serve at the head coach at their alma mater. The 2004 graduate joins prominent coaches such as Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Patrick Ewing (Georgetown), Juwan Howard (Michigan), Matt Painter (Purdue) and Roy Williams (North Carolina) among others on the list. Gallo and Rob Krimmel (Saint Francis U.) are the two current head coaches at the NEC who are coaching at their alma maters.
THE SECOND YEAR LEAP
Merrimack's four-player sophomore class already have made an immediate impact as they look to make a second-year leap.
Jordan Minor was named a NEC Prime Performer after averaging team-leading 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Mykel Derring led the squad with six 3-pointers and started both games.
Ziggy Reid also started both games, and enters the week ranked sixth nationally in effective field goal percentage (.773).
Jordan McKoy averaged 18.0 minutes per game and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.
