Men’s Basketball Hands Sacred Heart First NEC Defeat

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS.  – Behind 27 points from Jordan Derkack, the Merrimack College men's basketball team handed Sacred Heart University its first Northeast Conference loss of the season. The Pioneers never led in the game. Derkack also had a team-high seven rebounds in the win. Devon Savage added 18 points after knocking down six threes. Adam "Budd" Clark earned his first career double-double after scoring 10 points and dishing out 10 assists.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 82, Sacred Heart 58
Records: Merrimack (8-8, 2-0 NEC) | Sacred Heart (7-10, 1-1 NEC)
Location: Lawler Arena

Rapid Recap

• Right out of the gate, Savage knocked down his first three of the game to give Merrimack an early lead. After a Sacred Heart bucket the Warriors went on a eight-point run to go up by nine. The Pioneers battled back to get the advantage down to five. Jaylen Stinson found the bottom of the net with a three to swell the lead back up to eight. With 12 minutes to play until halftime, Merrimack was up by nine. After two straight positive possessions from Sacred Heart they found themselves down by four. After some back and forth play, Savage buried a three to give Merrimack an eight point cushion. After the Pioneers cut the lead down to five, Merrimack went on a seven-point run to get the lead to 12. Derkack had four points and Jordan McKoy hit a three. Merrimack would head into halftime up 15 after scoring the last five points of the half.
• Two minutes into the second half the Warriors found themselves up by 17. The Pioneers battled back to get the advantage down to 13. Savage would find the bottom of the net with another three to increase the lead to 16. Sacred Heart would once again get the lead down to 15. Derkack would hit a three to make it an 18-point lead for the Warriors. With eight minutes to play Sacred Heart was down by 14 points. Savage would start the run off with a three. Merrimack would score five more points to grab a 22-point lead. Both team would trade buckets back and forth for a number of minutes. With three minutes to play Jacob O'Connell would find a lane and score, giving the Warriors their biggest lead of the night at 26. Merrimack would end up winning the game by 24 points.

 
Notes and Numbers

• With the win, Merrimack has now won 13 straight games at home dating back to last season.  
• The Warriors shot 52% from the field, including 52% from long range.
• Merrimack forced 18 Pioneer turnovers. They scored 17 points off the turnovers.

Up Next
The Warriors will head to New York to take on Le Moyne College on Saturday afternoon. Game time is set for 2 p.m.