Men's Basketball Falls to Troy in Montana

MISSOULA, MT. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team dropped its first game in the state of Montana on Thursday night to Troy University 73-54. Freshman Jordan Derkack scored a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds. Classmate Javon Bennett scored 12 points, including two deep three-pointers. Ziggy Reid was the other Warrior in double figures with 11 points in the loss.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 54, Troy 73
Records: Merrimack (1-2) | Troy (4-0)
Location: Dahlberg Arena

Rapid Recap

• After a slow start the Warriors found themselves down five points early. Reid knocked down two free throws to put Merrimack down by three. A three from the Trojans put them up six with 12 and a half minutes left in the first half. Mykel Derring hit his first three of the night to put Merrimack back down three. Troy then went on a 10-point run to go up by 13 points. Derkack went coast-to-coast to cut the lead to 10. A jumper by Bennett got the Trojan lead to single digits with four and a half minutes left before halftime. Bennett then knocked down a three to made it just a six-point lead. The Troy lead swelled back up to 12. With two seconds to go before the end of the half, Nick Filchner found the bottom of the net with a three, sending the Warriors into halftime down nine.
• After a Troy jumper to open the second half, Jordan McKoy knocked down his first three of the night, cutting it once again to single digits. The lead was 14 with 15 minutes left to play. Derkack hit a jumper to push it back down to 12. After a Troy jumper made it 16. Reid answered with one of his own to slice it down to 14 points with 12 to go. The Trojans then scored nine points in a row to go up by 23. A Bennett layup stopped the run. Tory then added six more points to go up 27. The Warriors battled getting the deficit down to as little as 17, but it was not enough to win the game.

 
Notes and Numbers

• Merrimack scored 13 points off turnovers, compared to Troy who had 11.
• The Warriors got 30 points from their bench.
• Merrimack shot 82% from the free throw line.

Up Next
The Warriors get right back to action Friday night when they take on the host team, the University of Montana. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m.