Men's Basketball Drops Matchup At VCU

Richmond, Va. –  The Merrimack College men's basketball team dropped its first road game of the season at Virginia Commonwealth University on Wednesday night. Adam "Budd" Clark led the way for the Warriors with 19 points and five steals. Sean Trumper was the other Merrimack player in double figures with 16 points. The graduate student big man also had five rebounds.    

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 42, VCU 63
Records: Merrimack (1-1) | VCU (3-0)
Location: Siegel Center

Rapid Recap

• Clark got the scoring going for the Warriors in their first offensive possession. After a Ram free throw, he hit another jumper to put Merrimack up four. VCU then went on a five-point run to go up two. Devon Savage then knocked down a three to put the Warriors up by one. The Rams responded with a seven-point run to go up six. Matt Becht drove the lane for two, getting the advantage down to four. VCU added five straight points to go up nine. Clark scored two free throws and Trumper added a layup to get the lead down to seven. A Clark jumper with six minutes to go in the first half made it a two-possession game. The Rams then went on a 13-point run to go up 18. Trumper added two free throws making it a 16-point game. VCU finished the game on a five-point run to head into halftime up 21.
• Trumper start the second half off with a free throw cutting it down to 20. Both teams battled back and forth for the first quarter of the second half. VCU found themselves up 26 with 14 minutes to play. Trumper drove the lane for two with eight minutes to go in the second half to cut the lead down to 24. David Murray and Clark hit two free throws to get it down to 22. A Clark jumper with four and a half minutes got the advantage down to 19 points. The Warriors could not compete the comeback, losing by 21.
   

Notes and Numbers

• The Warriors shot 70% from the free throw line (17-24)
• Merrimack forced 17 turnovers in the loss, scoring 14 points giveaways.
• The Warriors scored 14 points in the paint.

Up Next
Merrimack heads back home to take on Princeton University on Sunday in Lawler Arena. Game time is set for 1 p.m.