Men's Basketball Tops Vermont in Season Opener

North Andover, Mass. –  The Merrimack College men's basketball team beat the University of Vermont in their season opener 65-51. Adam "Budd" Clark scored a team-high 19 points. The point guard from Philly added six rebounds and six assists. Both Matt Becht and Sean Trumper had 11 points in their Warrior debut.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 65, Vermont 51
Records: Merrimack (1-0) | Vermont (0-1)
Location: Lawler Arena

Rapid Recap

• The Catamounts jumped out to an early five-point lead. Clark added the first bucket of the night for the Warriors. Bryan Etumnu knocked down a three to tie the game at five. Clark then drove the lane giving the Warriors a two-point lead. Clark hit a three to put Merrimack up by five. Vermont hit a three to cut the lead down to two. With 13 minutes to play in the first the game was tied at 11. David Murray and Armandas Plintauskas scored back-to-back buckets to put the Warriors back up four. Both teams battled back and forth for a number of minutes. With three and a half minutes to go, Vermont took the lead by one. Plintauskas hit a three to put the Warriors back up by two. Clark scored four straight points to send Merrimack into halftime up by six.
• After nearly three minutes of no scoring, Vermont knocked down a three to make it a one possession game. Both teams traded buckets, Clark then hit a jumper to put Merrimack up five. After a free throw from the Catamounts, Trumper drove the lane for two. The Warriors added four-points to take their biggest lead of the night at 10. At the 11 minutes mark, Becht hit a three to put Merrimack up 11. Back-to-back three from Devon Savage and Becht, put the Warriors up by 16 with nine and a half minutes to play. Vermont go the lead down to 14. Becht then hit another three to swell the lead to 17. The Warriors would hold on to the lead in the final minutes with some great defensive play to win the game by 14.
   

Notes and Numbers

• Etumnu finished the game with nine points and seven rebounds.
• Merrimack forced 17 turnovers in the victory.
• Both Clark and Becht finished the game with three steals, Trumper added two in the win.

Up Next
Merrimack gets back to action on Wednesday night against VCU. Game time is set for 7 p.m.