FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – THE BEACONContact: Anthony J. Borgonzi, Jack Lawhorne – Undergraduate Communications Student
Last Friday night, the Warriors played host to Mount St. Mary’s at Lawler for a MAAC matchup in the two team’s only head-to-head contest of the regular season. Merrimack entered the game atop the conference, tied with Marist and Quinnipiac with an 8-1 record. Mount St. Mary’s were one of the favorites to win the MAAC coming into the season, highlighted by their marquee win over the Miami Hurricanes earlier this season. However, the story has shifted as a desperate Mount St. Mary’s team came to Lawler on a four-game losing streak looking to get back on track.
The Mountaineers (5-5) were looking to get above .500 and came in with a chip on their shoulder, knocking down 7 of their 13 three-pointers in the first half, while the Warriors struggled at 4 of 13. The Warriors’ “Make Chaos” defense was tested as The Mount finished with a three-point shooting percentage over 50% for the game. The Mount raced out to a 9-2 run to start the first four minutes of the game. As the Warriors struggled to create good offensive looks in the first half, they shot a rough 29% from the field. The Mount maintained their lead throughout the first half and extended it to 15 going into halftime.
Even though The Mount shot a ridiculously efficient percentage from the field, the Warriors forced 19 total turnovers led by Clark and Savage as they combined for 7 steals. These turnovers fueled the Warriors’ second-half comeback, allowing them to convert these opportunities into 18 pts.
Five minutes into the second half, the Warriors found themselves down 46-25 but continued to battle. The Warriors went on a timely kill-shot run, scoring 10 unanswered points to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to a manageable 11 points with 12 minutes left in the half. The Warriors were able to knock down 9 three-pointers at a 40% clip in the second half.
With five minutes remaining, senior Matt Becht and freshman Tye Dorset stepped up knocking down back-to-back threes to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 2 points. Lawler was rocking and the tides looked to be turning, but in the end, it wasn’t enough, as the Mountaineers escaped with a 66-58 victory. Despite the tough loss and disappointing start, Merrimack showed a lot of heart as they battled until the end and overcame the large deficit to make it a competitive game.
Some takeaways for the Warriors included their pesky defense, which forced an impressive 19 turnovers from Mount St. Mary’s and converted those takeaways into 18 points. Offensively, Becht, Clark, Savage, and Etemnu led the way for Merrimack, each finishing in double digits. At the end of the day, the Warriors played their ideal type of game as they forced turnovers, took care of the ball, and attempted 14 more shots than the Mountaineers. Although the Warriors did not shoot well from the field, it is encouraging that they were in such a close game with an opponent shooting the ball very efficiently.
The Warriors followed up with a game on Sunday and traveled to Lawrenceville, NJ this past weekend to take on the Rider Broncs in a Sunday afternoon MAAC showdown. Merrimack entered the contest with an 8-2 conference record compared to Rider’s 4-6 mark in the MAAC. In a close first half, no team was able to take a double-digit lead. The Warriors battled but were outshot as Rider was on fire from three, knocking down 4 of their 7 attempts from beyond the arc and 58% of their shots from the field. Merrimack shot a very modest 2-7 from three and 47% from the field and entered the half down by 1.
Budd Clark led an impressive second-half effort from the Warriors, taking the lead back early and extending that Merrimack edge to 9. An eventual 10-0 Rider run helped the Broncs flip the score as they went back up 5. But in the end, with help in the clutch from Sean Trumper and Bryan Etumnu, Budd Clark was too much for Rider to handle down the stretch. The MAAC Player of the Year front-runner finished with 22 points, and 10 assists, and nailed a dazzling game-winning jumper with 7 seconds to go, which sealed the deal for Merrimack.
The Warriors’ defense was locked in, as they forced 17 Rider turnovers which they were able to convert into 16 points off turnovers. Clark led the way with four steals, currently the #21 ranked player in the country when it comes to steals per game.
The Warriors, now 9-2 in the MAAC, play at home this weekend where they will host Niagara (3-7 MAAC) this Thursday for $1 Hotdog night at 7 PM in Lawler Arena. The Warriors will follow up with another game at home this Saturday hosting Canisius (2-8 MAAC) at 3 PM. ESPNU airs one MAAC men’s basketball game every Friday night and Merrimack has two eligible games left that could be selected to be played on national television. Let’s have a good showing this weekend and encourage your peers to attend!
On Thursday night, the Niagara Purple Eagles arrived in North Andover to take on the Merrimack Warriors. The Purple Eagles entered the matchup with an overall record of 8-13 (3-7 MAAC) compared to Merrimack’s 12-10 mark (10-2 MAAC). The Warriors got off to a bit of a slow start, knocking down just 9 of 28 field goals and 1 of 10 three-point attempts. Niagara outshot them slightly and finished the first on a 7-point run to secure a 6-point Eagles lead at half.
In the second half, both teams went back and forth, and Niagara maintained a modest single-digit lead for much of the period. Budd Clark was dominant in the second half where he scored 22 of his career-high 32 points. With six minutes remaining, Clark kept the Warriors afloat all night and went on a 6-point run by himself to tie the game at 52. In the clutch, the Warriors prevailed, thanks to 6 more from Clark as well as clutch offensive contributions from Sean Trumper and stellar team defensive play on the other end. In addition to Clark’s career-scoring night, he added 6 steals, adding to his rank at 12th in the nation (2.43 SPG). The Warriors are back in action Saturday afternoon where they’ll host Canisius. Tip-off is at 3:00 in Hammel Court. Go Warriors!
