First-Place Men's Basketball Heads To The Mount On Thursday For 7 P.M. Tipoff

EMMITSBURG, MD - The Merrimack men's basketball team looks to stay on top of the MAAC standings when it heads to Mount St. Mary's for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday.

THE LATEST

• For the 27th time in 34 MAAC games, the Warriors enter a contest in first place in the conference standings. The Warriors have the best MAAC conference record since joining the league last season, with a 24-8 conference record. 
• Kevair Kennedy scored 21 points for his fourth 20-point game in the last five contests and Tye Dorset had 16 points as Merrimack defeated Sacred Heart 75-58 on Sunday..
• Merrimack defeated the Mount on Jan. 2 behind 24 points from Kevair Kennedy and 22 points from Enest Shelton. The Warriors blocked 9 shots in the win.
• Kevair Kennedy has put himself in position to sweep the MAAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors. Kennedy, a 4x MAAC Rookie of the Week, is averaging 17.1 points per game, which is second in the MAAC. His 19.7 points per game in conference play leads the league. Kennedy's has only taken 20 3-pointers this season, making 7. He has made 117 2-point field goals on 247 attempts from inside the arc (47%). He has scored in double-figures in 22 of his 23 collegiate games - including 21 straight and leads Merrimack and is 7th in the conference in assists (3.9 apg) and ranks 5th in the league in steals (1.8 spg). He has scored 20 or more points in five of the last five games and six of the last nine.
• Ernest Shelton, a high school teammate of  Kevair Kennedy at Philadelphia's Father Judge High School, is second on the team and seventh in the MAAC in scoring at 15.8 points per game.  Shelton, a Division II transfer from Gannon University in Erie, PA, has scored 20 or more points 5 times, and in double figures in 20 of the 23 games. He has made a 3-pointer in every game and multiple 3-pointers in 20 of the 23 games. Shelton is 11-of-19 (.579) from three in the last three games.
• The Warriors have won 8 of the last 10 and are 12-3 in the last 15 games. Merrimack is 8-0 when it scores 70 points or more.
• The Warriors #MakeChaos zone defense has continued to cause problems for opponents. Merrimack has allowed over 66 points only 3x in the last 15 games and held teams to 61 points or less in 5 of the last 7 games, including the last three. 
• Merrimack has held its last four opponents, Marist (-17.5) Iona (-13.4), Saint Peter's (-13.2) and Sacred Heart (-17.0), well below their season average. Merrimack is holding opponents to 63.5 points per game in the last 14 games. 
• Tye Dorset is averaging 12.5 points per game in conference play and has scored in double-figures in 5 of the last 6 games. He has made a 3-pointer in 5-straight games.