Men's Basketball Opens Cathedral Classic Friday At Palestra

PHILADELPHIA - The Merrimack men's basketball team plays in the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra, with the first of three games in three days on Friday vs host Penn at 4:30 p.m.
The Warriors play Hofstra on Saturday at 2 p.m. and La Salle on Sunday at noon.

THE LATEST

• This weekend will be the final tune-up before MAAC play opens Dec. 4. Merrimack finished 2nd in the MAAC last season and reached the conference semifinals in Atlantic City.
• For the fifth time in the first six games, Merrimack is playing away from home. Four of those games have been true road games. The Warriors opened the season with four-straight away from home, three of which were in the Central Time Zone. Both of Merrimack's wins are within 30 miles of campus, a home win over Maine and a road trip 27 miles down Rt. 93 at Boston University. 
• These three games in the Cathedral Classic will mark 8 out of 9 games away from home to start the season. Less than a month into the season and Merrimack has traveled over 12,500 miles.
• Merrimack had two Philadelphia natives and former Father Judge High School teammates sweep the MAAC Weekly Awards on Nov. 19. Junior Ernest Shelton averaged 25.6 points per game in two contests to earn the MAAC Player of the Week, while freshman Kevair Kennedy averaged 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds to take Rookie of the Week honors. 
• Division II transfer Ernest Shelton, who averaged 17.4 points and 4.5 rebounds for Gannon University last season, is leading the Warriors in scoring at 18.0 points per game. He has scored 20 or more points in three of the six games. Shelton tied a school record for three-pointers in a game, with 9 in the win at BU.
• Kevair Kennedy is off to an impressive start to his college career averaging 13.3 points per game and has scored in double figures in five out of six games. Kenndy has been huge in the Warriors two victories, coming two assists shy of a triple-double in the win at BU, with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists. He scored a career-high 23 points in the win over Maine last Wednesday.
• Merrimack tied the MAAC record for three-pointers in a game, making 19 three-pointers in the win over BU on Nov. 15. Ernest Shelton tied a Merrimack school record with 9 three-pointers, making 9-of-12 from behind the arc.