LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - The Merrimack men's basketball team, which sits in first place in the MAAC standings, looks to win its fourth-straight game on Saturday at Rider at 7 p.m.
THE LATEST
• For the 28th time in 35 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 25-8 conference record, ahead of Quinnipiac (24-10) and Marist (23-11) for the best record over the last two seasons.
• Merrimack found itself down three points with just seconds left in the first half on Thursday at the Mount, but proceeded to go on a 23-0 run over the last 1.5 seconds of the first half and 6:36 of the second half. Ernest Shelton finished with 27 points and Kevair Kennedy had 25 points and seven assists as the Warriors led by as many as 27 in an 87-70 win.
• Merrimack defeated Rider 68-66 back on Dec. 4 in Lawler Arena. Andrés Marrero led the Warriors with a career-high 23 points, Kennedy had 19 and Tye Dorset had 15.
• 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 leading the league in scoring at 17.5 points per game. His 19.7 points per game in conference play also leads the league. He has scored in double-figures in 23 of his 24 collegiate games - including 22 straight and leads Merrimack and is 6th in the conference in assists (4.0 apg) and ranks 4th in the league in steals (1.8 spg). He has scored 20 or more points in 5 of the last6 games and 7 of the last 9.
• Ernest Shelton, a high school teammate of Kevair Kennedy at Philadelphia's Father Judge High School, is second on the team and 6th in the MAAC in scoring at 16.3 points per game. Shelton, a Division II transfer from Gannon University in Erie, PA, has scored 20 or more points 6 times, and in double figures in 21 of the 24 games. He has made a 3-pointer in every game and multiple 3-pointers in 21 of the 24 games. Shelton is averaging 3.0 3s per game in his last 12 games after making 5 on Thursday,
• The Warriors have won 9 of the last 11 and are 13-3 in the last 16 games. Merrimack is 9-0 when it scores 70 points or more. Merrimack is second in the MAAC in turnover margin (+2.83).
• The Warriors #MakeChaos zone defense has continued to cause problems for opponents. Merrimack has allowed over 66 points only 4x in the last 16 games and held teams to 61 points or less in 5 of the last 8 games, including 3of the last 4
• Merrimack has held 3 of its last 4 opponents, Marist (-17.5) Iona (-13.4), Saint Peter's (-13.2) and Sacred Heart (-17.0), well below their season average.
