Men’s Basketball Defeated in Season Opener at Vermont

BURLINGTON, V.T. –  The Merrimack College men's basketball team dropped its season opener to the University of Vermont on Monday night 67-55. Sophomore Jordan Derkack led the way for the Warriors with 16 points and eight rebounds. Adam "Budd" Clark added 10 points in his Merrimack debut.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 55, Vermont 67
Records: Merrimack (0-1) | Vermont (1-0)
Location: Patrick Gymnasium

Rapid Recap

• Seven minutes into the game, the Warriors found themselves down by 17 points. A layup by Jaylen Stinson stopped the Catamount run. With just over 11 minutes to play in the half, Jacob O'Connell scored, cutting the advantage down to 11. A three by Stinson dropped the Vermont lead down to seven. Clark added a layup with seven minutes to play to make it a two possession contest. The Catamounts got the lead back up to 15. A three by Jordan McKoy right before halftime gave the Warriors a 16 point deficit heading into the second half.
• Devon Savage would open the second half with his first three of the night making the lead 13. Derkack would follow up a three of his own to make the lead 10. Both teams would battle back and forth. A layup by Derkack with 13 minutes left in the game sliced the lead to seven. After some back and forth scoring, Clark would knock down two free throws to make the advantage seven with 10 and a half left in the game. Vermont would then go on a eight-point run to swell the lead up to 15. Samba Diallo would score five straight points to get it back down to 10. This would be the closest the Warriors would get, losing the game by 12.

 
Notes and Numbers

• O'Connell would chip in with six points in his Merrimack debut.
• The Warriors forced nine turnovers and scored 13 points of the them.
• Clark had a team-high three steals.
• Clark is the first Merrimack player to score double figures in his freshman debut since Malik Edmead in 2020 (17 points against Sacred Heart).

Up Next
Merrimack heads home to take on Worcester State. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Hammel Court.