Men’s Basketball Drops Season Finale to Sacred Heart; Earns Two Seed in NEC Tournament

FAIRFIELD, CONN. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team dropped its last game of the season on Saturday afternoon to Sacred Heart University 89-85. Jordan Derkack had a team-high 27 points in the loss. The sophomore guard also had nine rebounds and five assists. Samba Diallo finished with a career-high 21 points after going six-for-nine from the field. Adam "Budd" Clark was the third Warrior in double figures with 11 points in the defeat.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 85, Sacred Heart 89
Records: Merrimack (19-11, 13-3 NEC) | Sacred Heart (16-15, 10-6 NEC)
Location: William H. Pitt Center

Rapid Recap

• Derkack got the scoring going with a three on his first shot of the afternoon. A Pioneer free throw cut the lead down to two. Derkack then found the bottom of the net for his second three in two shots. Sacred Heart then jumped on a seven-point run to go up two. Diallo hit his first three of the afternoon to give the Warriors back the lead by one. Devon Savage then converted on a layup to put Merrimack up three. Seven minutes into the game the score was tied at 13. The Pioneers then went on an eight-point run to go up eight. Derkack added five points of his own to cut the lead back down to three. Jordan McKoy hit a three to tie the game back up at 21. The Warriors then scored five unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the game at five. Sacred Heart then flipped the game back in their direction taking a three-point advantage. Diallo hit his second three of the game to tie the game at 29 with six and a half minutes to go before halftime. Both teams went back and forth for a number of minutes. Both teams tied or took the lead on multiple occasions. The Pioneers were up one with a minute and a half left before halftime. Derkack hit another three make it a two-point Warriors advantage. Sacred Heart then tied the game on their next offensive possession. Derkack hit a free throw before halftime to send Merrimack into the locker with a one-point lead.
• Clark opened the second half with a jumper for the Warriors. Sacred Heart then retook the lead after four straight points. Bryan Etumnu tied the game with a free throw. After a Pioneer score, Diallo nailed a three to give Merrimack a one-point lead. Down one, Diallo converted on an and one to give the Warriors a two-point lead. Sacred Heart scored six unanswered points to go up by four. Derkack added two free throws to cut the lead down to two. The Pioneers went on a 10-point run to go up by 12. Jacob O'Connell stopped the run with a three, getting the lead down to nine. With just under 10 minutes to play, Sacred Heart was up by 15. Merrimack responded by going on a 10-point run of their own to shrink the lead down to six. A layup by Clark at the six-and-a-half-minute mark made it a five-point game. A Pioneer bucket made the advantage seven with six minutes to play. The Warriors then scored seven unanswered points to tie the game at 75. Sacred Heart then added four points to retake the lead by two possessions. Etumnu found the bottom of the net to decease the lead to one possession. Sacred Heart then went on a five-point run to go up six. Derkack nailed a three with 47 seconds left to make it a three-point game. With 11 seconds left, the Pioneers were up six. Diallo scored on an and one layup to cut the lead back down to three. Clark was fouled on the Sacred Heart in bounds pass. He hit one free throw and missed the second on purpose, the Warriors could not get the rebound. Merrimack would end up losing by four.  

 
Notes and Numbers

• Etumnu finished the game with nine points after going three of five from the field.
• Merrimack scored 12 points off of 10 Pioneer turnovers.  
• McKoy had six points off the bench.

Up Next
The Warriors will take on Long Island University on Wednesday night in Lawler Arena in the first round of the Northeast Conference tournament. Game time is set for 7 p.m.