Men’s Basketball Clinches Share of Northeast Conference Regular Season Title with Win Over FDU

HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team beat FDU on Thursday night 74-55. With the victory the Warriors clinched at least a share of their second straight Northeast Conference regular season championship. Jordan Derkack led the way for the Warriors with 23 points. The sophomore guard also had six assists in the victory. Adam "Budd" Clark scored 21 points after knocked down 10 shots from the field. Clark also had five rebounds and three assists.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 74, FDU 55
Records: Merrimack (19-10, 13-2 NEC) | FDU (14-16, 8-7 NEC)
Location: Bogota Savings Bank Center

Rapid Recap

• The Merrimack scoring got going with a corner three from Samba Diallo. After a Knights bucket, Diallo found the bottom of the net again to put the Warriors up four. Derkack then hit his first three of the night to put the Warriors up by six. FDU battled back to cut the lead down to two. Derkack hit his second three of the night to increase the lead to five. The Knights got it to a one possession game with a jumper. Jordan McKoy knocked down a three to swell the advantage to six. After jumper from Clark at the 10-minute mark made it an eight-point lead. Both teams went back and forth for a number of minutes, not letting the lead get over nine. Derkack then scored four straight points to make it a 13-point Merrimack lead with six minutes to play in the first half. A three with two minutes to play in the first got the lead down to single digits. A jumper by Clark with four seconds left made it a 10-point Warrior lead heading into halftime.  
• The first two minutes of the second half started with some back and forth play from both teams. Derkack then scored five unanswered points to put Merrimack up by five. A Devon Savage three would increased the lead to 16. Diallo and Clark then scored on back-to-back possessions to swell the lead to 20. FDU battled back to cut the lead down to 16 points. The advantage was 13 with nine and a half minutes left in the second half. Derkack would sky for a slam to increase the lead to 15. Bryan Etumnu scored to make it a 17-point game with a little under eight minutes left. Both teams traded baskets on a few possessions. Jacob O'Connell hit his only tree of the night to push the lead up to 20. Clark followed up with a jumper and free throw to make it 23. The freshman point guard would hit another jumper to give the Warriors a 25-point lead. Merrimack would end up winning the game by 19.

 
Notes and Numbers

• Clark finished with a team-high four steals.
• Merrimack scored 15 points off of 14 Knight turnovers.  
• Diallo and Etumnu both finished the game with eight points.

Up Next
The Warriors play their final regular season game on Saturday afternoon at Sacred Heart. A win would clinch the Northeast Conference regular season title. Game time is set for 2 p.m.