Men's Basketball on to NCAA East Region Semifinals with Win over UMass-Lowell
Game
Highlights
EASTON, MA – Exacting revenge for a Northeast-10
Conference semifinal loss to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell
nine days ago, the Merrimack men's basketball team ran away
from the River Hawks in the NCAA East Regional quarterfinal
Saturday afternoon, 81-62.
Earning the seventh NCAA Regional semifinals berth in program
history, the Warriors will face #2 Bentley University on Sunday at
5:00pm at Merkert Gymnasium on the campus of Stonehill
College.
Tickets for Sunday's game will be available at Merkert
Gymnasium for $10 for Adults and $5 for Youth/Seniors (Tournament
Information). Gates will open at 4:00pm for the general
public.
Junior Dee Mency (Hagerstown,
MD) led the Warriors to their third win of the year over
Lowell with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Wayne Mack
(Paterson, NJ) also chipped in 15 points, including two
threes, to help Merrimack shoot 48% from deep.
Following the game, Mency added, “When we get stops on the
defensive end, it makes our offense flow that much better. We
knew going into the game that we would need to improve our defense
from the last game against [Lowell].
In a defensive battle to begin, the Warriors held the Rive Hawks
without a field goal for the first 5:15 of play. To grab a
9-3 lead early, Merrimack used stingy defense and consecutive
three-point plays from Mack, Duncan and Mency.
“We preach thinking on defense,” said head coach
Bert Hammel in a post-game press Conference.
“We know that we can stop teams with our athleticism, but to
win games like this, we have to be more consistent.”
Pushing the lead to 14-4 (behind a 9-4 rebounding advantage),
Mack converted a three-point play at the 12:03 that gave way to an
18-5 Warrior run, consisting of 5-of-8 shooting from three-point
range. In the half, Merrimack shot 9-of-16 from beyond the
arc, while the River Hawks hit just 2-of-10 from deep.
Merrimack's defense held Lowell's all-Conference
guard Kyle Caiola scoreless from the field in the first stanza
after following a Conference semifinal in which the sophomore
tallied a career-high 32 at Volpe Gym.
Hitting his first two attempts from three and from the line,
sophomore Roland Davis (Deer
Park, NY) again found his shooting groove to score eight
of his 11 points in the first half.
“The week off gave us a chance to rest up and it allowed
me to get my mind off of the last game,” Davis said.
“It all started with our defense, but it always feels good to
hit the first shot.”
Giving Merrimack their largest lead of the half at 44-20 with
2:20 remaining, Mency converted a jumper from the top of the arc as
part of his 13 first half points to lead all scorers.
Capping off the first half with a buzzer-beating three, senior
captain Darren Duncan
(Briarwood, NY) gave Merrimack not only the most threes
made in a half this season with nine, but also their largest lead
at the half this season, 47-26, despite a 13-5 foul disparity.
Last time out against Lowell in the Conference semifinals,
Merrimack was out-rebounded 52-36, but in the first half Merrimack
gained an 11-rebound edge (21-10). In the game, the Warriors
won the rebounding battle, 47-27, including 15-5 on the offensive
glass after allowing 23 a week ago in the Conference semifinals.
The Warriors continued applying pressure in the second half,
forcing two early turnovers and five straight points from sophomore
Aaron
Strothers (Wareham, MA).
As the River Hawks maintained their struggles from long range,
Merrimack continued to hit with Davis' third three in
transition to gain a 26-point advantage, 57-31.
Picking up his fourth foul with 15:11 to play, Duncan was
confined to the Warriors bench until the 4:43 mark. In his
absence, senior Craig Woehnker
(Colts Neck, NJ) and Mency contributed threes to keep the
River Hawks at bay. Freshman Tyler Young (Brooklyn,
NY) also contributed inspired play off the bench with
eight points, going 4-of-4 from the field, while grabbing four
offensive boards.
Leading by as much as 26 in the second half, the Warriors shot
44% in the game, but forcing 21 turnovers and snagging 12 steals
made the difference in the Regional quarterfinal.
With his game-high 21 points on Saturday, Mency became the
12th all-time scorer at Merrimack with 1,461 career
points, passing Matt Van Leeuwen '01 (1,450) and Craig
Griffin '04 (1,454).
With the win, Merrimack earns their second straight 21-win
season at 21-8.
