Etumnu’s Career Day Propels Men’s Basketball Past Manhattan

North Andover, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team beat Manhattan University on Sunday afternoon by seven points. Junior forward Bryan Etumnu finished the game with a career-high 21 points. Adam "Budd" Clark scored 15 points in the victory. Matt Becht was the third Merrimack player in double figures with 13 points.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 69, Manhattan 62
Records: Merrimack (8-8, 5-0 MAAC) | Manhattan (7-8, 2-4 MAAC)
Location: Hammel Court

Rapid Recap

• Sean Trumper opened the scoring with a thee to give the Warriors an early advantage. Clark then added a layup to put Merrimack up by five. The Jaspers converted on a jumper to cut the lead down to two. Devon Savage hit a three to make the lead five again. Both teams battled back and forth. Five minutes into the game, Manhattan went on a nine-point run to flip the game, putting them up four. Merrimack battled back to tie the game at 12. The Jasper answered back gong up five. With just under 10 minutes to play the Warriors found themselves down nine. Malik Edmead hit a thee to cut the lead to four. Etumnu then had a dunk, followed by a Becht three, putting Merrimack back up by one. The Jaspers then took the lead by one after two free throws. Etumnu then hit a three sending Merrimack up two. Tye Dorset came off the bench and knocked down his first three, giving the Warriors a five-point lead. Merrimack heading into halftime up by four.
• Savage converted on a layup out of the half, to make the lead six. Manhattan would get the advantage down to two possessions early on in the second half. Etumnu caught a lob from Clark, putting the Warriors up six. After a Jasper bucket, Becht hit a three to put Merrimack up seven. Clark found the bottom of the net with a jumper to make the lead nine. Manhattan came back to cut the lead to four. Etumnu then went on a personal five-point run to increase the lead back up to nine. Like before, the Jaspers came back to get the advantage back down to four with 12 minutes to play. With 10 minutes to go it was a one possession game in North Andover. After back and forth play, the lead was down to just one. Becht hit a two-point jumper to get the lead back to three. After an answer from Manhattan, Trumper hit a jumper and Etumnu found the bottom of the net with a three to increase the lead to six. Clark knocked down a three and Becht hit a three, sending the lead up to 10 with five minutes to play. The Warrior lead to as low as six, but the comeback attempt from the Jaspers was not enough to beat Merrimack on Sunday afternoon.

Notes and Numbers

• In addition to his 15 points, Clark finished the game with nine assists.
• The Warriors forced 18 turnovers and scored 23 points off the giveaways.  
• Trumper finished the game with five points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Up Next
Merrimack will hit the road to take on Quinnipiac University on Thursday night. Game time is set for 7 p.m.