Career-Highs From Clark and Black Helps Men’s Basketball Take Down Saint Francis Saturday

LORETTO, PA.  – The Merrimack College men's basketball team won took its third straight Northeast Conference victory on Saturday afternoon 74-55. Adam "Budd" Clark had his best game in a Warrior uniform, scoring 30 points. Clark knocked down 11 shots from the field including two from deep. The freshman point guard also had four steals and four assists. Jordan Derkack earned his second double-double of the season after scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Elliott Black had a career-high 10 points off the bench. He also grabbed six rebounds, which was good enough for second best for Merrimack.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 74, Saint Francis 55
Records: Merrimack (12-10, 6-2 NEC) | Saint Francis (7-14, 2-6 NEC)
Location: Maurice Stokes Athletic Center

Rapid Recap

• The Warriors opened the game on an eight-point run, which included six straight from Clark. After a Red Flash bucket, Devon Savage hit a three to put Merrimack up by nine. Saint Francis would get the lead down to eight with 16 minutes left on the clock in the first half. The Warriors then went on a five-point run to go up by 13. With eight minutes to play before halftime the Red Flash got the lead down to single digits. Clark would start a run that got the Merrimack advantage back up to 13. Both teams with back and forth for a number of minutes. Black would convert on a layup with just under three minutes to go to put the Warriors up by 15. After the Red Flash got the lead down to 12, Clark would hit a jumper and Elliott would find a lane for a layup to send Merrimack into halftime up by 16.  
• After a slow first half, Derkack would turn it on out of the gate, scoring twice in the first two minutes of the second half, putting the Warriors up by 18. The Red Flash would fight back to cut the lead down to 11. With 10 minutes to go in the game, Saint Francis got the advantage down to a three-possession game. Merrimack then added seven points to swell the lead back up to 14. Both teams then went back and forth. The lead was 12 with seven minutes to play. Black and Clark would both score to get it back up to a 16-point advantage. After a Clark layup with three minutes to play, the Warriors were up 19. Merrimack would continue its solid play in the final minutes of the game and would win by 19.

 
Notes and Numbers

• Savage would hit two threes for six points.
• Merrimack went to the line 29 times and knocked down 22 free throws. Clark went a perfect six-for-six.
• The Warriors scored 19 points off of 15 Red Flash turnovers.  

Up Next
Merrimack heads home to take on Central Connecticut State on Saturday. Game time is set for 3 p.m. in Lawler Arena.