Men's Basketball Powers Past Central Connecticut

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS.  – Behind 22 points from sophomore guard Jordan Derkack the Merrimack College men's basketball team defeated Central Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon in a pack house in Lawler Arena. Jacob O'Connell had a block with the waning seconds to cliched the victory for the Warriors. Devon Savage added 15 points after knocking five threes. Jordan McKoy scored 11 points off the bench.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 71, Central Connecticut 68
Records: Merrimack (13-10, 6-2 NEC) | Central Connecticut (13-9, 7-2 NEC)
Location: Lawler Arena

Rapid Recap

• Merrimack opened the game on a four-point run to take an early lead. The Blue Devils battled back to tie the game at four. Adam "Budd" Clark then hit a jumper to put Merrimack back on top by two. Central Connecticut then scored five straight to take a three-point advantage. Clark and Derkack scored five point to give the Warriors back the lead. Back teams went back and forth. The score was tied at 15 with 12 and a half minutes to play in the first half. McKoy hit his first three of the afternoon to regain the lead. The Blue Devils responded back to go down by one. McKoy found the bottom of the net again from deep to push the advantage to four. After some back and forth from both team, O'Connell scored in the post put the lead back at four. Derkack then scored five straight to increase the lead to nine with six minutes to play. Central Connecticut then scored 10 straight points to flip the game and go up by one. Clark stopped the run with a three from the corner, putting Merrimack up two. A three from the Blue Devils, followed by a three from McKoy kept the advantage at two. Savage would hit the three in the final seconds of the first half to send the Warriors into the locker room up five.   
• Bryan Etumnu scored the first four points of the second half to give Merrimack a nine-point lead. Central Connecticut responded by cutting the lead down to nine. The Warriors responded by scoring eight points, highlighted by two threes from Savage. The Blue Devils battled back to make it a 10-point lead. With six and a half minutes to play the Merrimack lead was six. Derkack then scored four points to swell the lead back up to 10. After a Central Connecticut bucket, Savage hit a three in the corner to send it back up to 11. The Blue Devils then scored six-point to make it a two-possession game. With under a minute to play McKoy hit two three throws to make it a six-point game. Central Connecticut scored four points all from the free throw line to cut the advantage to one possession. After a Warrior turnover, the Blue Devils drove the lane and were blocked by O'Connell. A free throw down the other end from Clark gave Merrimack a three-point win.

 
Notes and Numbers

• Clark was the fourth Warrior in double figures with 10 points. He also led the team in steals with four.
• Merrimack scored 18 points off of 18 Blue Devil turnovers.  
• Merrimack has now won seven straight games in Lawler Arena dating back to last season.

Up Next
The Warriors get back to action on Thursday night against Long Island. Game time is set for 7 p.m.