Men’s Basketball Defeated by Wagner

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS.  – The Merrimack College men's basketball fell for the second straight time on Friday night to Wagner College 71-65. Jacob O'Connell had a career-high 26 points after going 9-11 from the field. The graduate student also went a perfect three for three from deep. Jordan McKoy was the only other Warrior in double figures with 11 points in the loss.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 65, Wagner 71
Records: Merrimack (9-10, 3-2 NEC) | Wagner (9-7, 3-1 NEC)
Location: Hammel Court

Rapid Recap

• The Seahawks jumped out to an early six-point lead out of the gate. O'Connell would stop the run with a layup. The big man would then hit a three to cut the lead down to one. McKoy would then find the bottom of the net with a three to put the Warriors up two. Wagner would battle back retaking a four-point lead. Both team battled back and forth. The Seahawks found themselves up five with nine and a half minutes to play in the first. Two minutes later Wagner increased its lead to seven. Merrimack then went on an eight-point run to flip the game and go up one. The Seahawks hit a three to retake a two point lead. Down one with five minutes to play until halftime, the Warriors added 11 straight points to go up by eight. After back and forth play to end the half, Merrimack would head into the locker room up by seven.
• Wagner opened the second half with four points to slice the lead to three. Bryan Etumnu would find a lane for a dunk, bringing the lead back up to five. The Seahawks then went on a six-point run to retake the lead by one. Adam "Budd" Clark hit a jumper to give the Warriors back the lead. Both teams battled for a number of minutes not letting either get a lead higher then three. With 10 minutes to play in the game, the Seahawks were up five. O'Connell converted on an and one to get the advantage down to two. Wager then added six points to go up eight. After being down nine with five minutes to go, Devon Savage hit his lone three of the night to drop the lead to six. With two minutes to go the Seahawks held an eight point lead. McKoy would hit a three with a minute and a half left to make it a two possession game. After a Wagner free throw, Jordan Derkack found a lane to the hoop, making the lead four. Good free throw shooting at the end gave the Seahawks a six-point win.

 
Notes and Numbers

• There were a total of 10 lead changes.   
• O'Connell also had four blocks in the loss.   
• Derkack had eight points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

Up Next
The Warriors get right back to action on Sunday afternoon against Stonehill College. Game time is set for 2 p.m.