NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball program returns home this week when the Warriors host Fairleigh Dickinson University for a pair of contests on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Friday (4 p.m.) this week at Hammel Court. The Warriors will play their third and fourth home games of the year against the Knights, who will be playing their first games since December.
LAST TIME OUT
Merrimack lost a pair of games last week at Mount St. Mary's. The first score went in favor of the Mountaineers, 77-57, while the second game saw the Warriors falter, 63-52. Merrimack played its best in the second half, using a 19-3 run in turn a 25-point hole into a single-digit game. Sophomore
Jordan McKoy played the best game of his young career, scoring a career-high 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting including three makes from beyond the arc. McKoy set single-game highs in field goals (4), 3-point field goals (3) and steals (4), as well.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
FDU has won two of its eight games this season, including its most recent game in non-league action against Fairfield (69-65). In NEC action, the Knights split a home series against Central Connecticut in early December, dropping the first game against the Blue Devils before winning the second (79-71). FDU employs the second-best NEC offense in terms of field-goal percentage (.446), but also allows teams to shoot 49.4 percent to rank 10th in the conference in field goal percentage defense.
Matchup Comparison:
| Category |
Merrimack (1-3, 1-3 NEC) |
Fairleigh Dickinson (2-6, 1-1 NEC) |
| Scoring Offense |
67.0 |
71.1 |
| Scoring Defense |
74.5 |
80.9 |
| Field-Goal % |
43.3% |
44.6% |
| Field-Goal % Defense |
46.8% |
49.4% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % |
29.4% |
35.7% |
| 3-PT Field Goal % Defense |
45.1% |
31.7% |
| 3-PT Field Goals (Made-Attempts) |
25-85 |
56-157 |
| Free-Throw Percentage |
64.9% |
65.5% |
| Winning Percentage |
1-3 (.250) |
2-6 (.250) |
| Rebounding Margin |
-10.5 |
-4.7 |
| Assists/Game |
10.8 |
11.4 |
| Steals/Game |
10.8 |
7.8 |
| Turnovers/Game |
10.8 |
15.4 |
| Blocks/Game |
3.8 |
3.5 |
| Total Fouls |
68 |
151 |
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 43 steals through four games, Merrimack leads the NEC in steals per game at 10.8 per contest - over two thefts more than any team.
SERIES HISTORY
Merrimack swept last season's series with FDU, wearing a pair of tightly contested contests by 74-71 (2OT) and 57-53 margins. The matchup at Hammel Court needed 10 extra minutes to be decided, with senior
Jaleel Lord hitting a 3-pointer late in the second overtime to give Merrimack the win. Sophomore
Jordan Minor averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game last season against FDU. Senior
Devin Jensen played particularly well in Hackensack, scoring 15 points with five 3-pointers. Merrimack owns a 6-0 edge in the all-time series between the programs.
GALLO VS. HERENDA (ROUND THREE)
This week's matchup pits two Merrimack alums against each other in Greg Herenda '83 and
Joe Gallo '04. Herenda holds the single-game assist record at Merrimack (22), serving as the team's point guard during his career. Like Gallo, Herenda served as an assistant coach for long-time Warrior boss Bert Hammel from 1985-89. It will be Herenda's third time coaching against Merrimack at the Division I level; Herenda coached against the Warriors when he was the head man at UMass Lowell from 2008-13.
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 have been regular members of Merrimack's rotation over the first two weeks of the regular season. Edmead ranks third on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field (16-32). Isaacson enjoyed a strong game last week at The Mount, posting seven points and seven boards last Thursday.
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 currently ranks second on Merrimack in scoring (12.5/game) and leads the team in rebounding (8.3/game).
Mykel Derring is tied for the team lead with six 3-pointers while
Ziggy Reid paces Merrimack in blocked shots, ranks second in rebounding and second in 3-point percentage.
Jordan McKoy emerged from last week leading Merrimack by making 66.7 percent of his 3-point attempts.
