Men’s Basketball Falls to Central Connecticut Monday

NEW BRITAIN, CONN.  – The Merrimack College men's basketball dropped its first Northeast Conference (NEC) game of the season on Monday night at Central Connecticut State University. Jordan Derkack led the Warriors with 16 points. Adam "Budd" Clark finished the game with 15 points and eight assists. Bryan Etumnu was the third Merrimack player to finish the game in double figures with 13 points.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 70, Central Connecticut 75
Records: Merrimack (9-9, 3-1 NEC) | Central Connecticut (9-7, 3-0 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium

Rapid Recap

• Two minutes into the game, the Warriors found themselves down by five. An Etumnu dunk cut the lead to three. After a Blue Devil three, Etumnu then found the bottom of the net with a three to make it a one possession game. Central Connecticut would then add six points to go up by nine. Samba Diallo and Jacob O'Connell would combine for a four-point run to get the lead down to five. Both teams then went back and forth for a number of minutes. After the Warriors sliced the advantage down to five, the Blue Devils went on a eight-point run to go up by 12. Clark stopped the run with a jumper. The lead remained 12 for a number of minutes. With under a minute to play the Blue Devils were up by nine. Devon Savage hit a three with 59 seconds to o before halftime to cut the lead to six. Two free throws at the end of the half would send Central Connecticut into the locker room up eight.
• After a Blue Devil bucket, Clark found a lane for two to keep the deficit at eight. Central Connecticut would then go on a six-point run to go back up by 14. Derkack hit a jumper to stop the run. With 13 minutes to play, Clark hit a jumper in the lane to get the lead back down to eight. The Blue Devils then scored 10 unanswered points to go up 18, their biggest lead of the game. Savage would find the bottom of the net with a three to stop the run. The Warriors then scored five straight points to get the advantage back down to 10. With six minutes to play the lead six after a run by Merrimack. A three by Central Connecticut would increase the lead to nine. A Jordan McKoy layup and Clark jumper would get the advantage down to five points with four minutes to play. Both team started to trade buckets down the stretch. With two and a half minutes until the final buzzer, the Blue Devils were up eight. Derkack would get a fast break dunk to get the lead down to six. Both team would head to the line a number of times. Derkack would it two free throws to make the lead five with 35 seconds to play. After a Central Connecticut turnover, Clark would hit a layup to make it a three-point lead. Good free throw shooting down the stretch from the Blue Devils would give them a five-point win.   

 
Notes and Numbers

• Both Diallo and Clark had a team-high five rebounds in the loss.   
• O'Connell had eight points and four blocks in 20 minutes off the bench.  
• Merrimack forced 15 Blue Devil turnovers. They scored 16 points off the turnovers.

Up Next
The Warriors head home to take on Wagner College, Friday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.