Jack Lawhorne – Sports Reporter
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – After dropping their last two games in heartbreaking fashion, the Merrimack Warriors return to action Friday night at Hammel Court where they’ll take on MAAC rival Sacred Heart University at 7:00 pm. The Warriors look to avoid what would be just their third 3-game conference losing skid since their transition to Division 1.
This projects to be a tight matchup as Sacred Heart flaunts the most efficient offense in the MAAC whereas Merrimack plays the most efficient defense in the conference (KenPom). In their last duel just over a month ago, Merrimack escaped Connecticut with a tight 66-65 road win.
Then on Sunday, the Warriors will travel to New York where they’ll face the Iona Gaels in their first head-to-head clash of the season.
Heading into the weekend, Merrimack currently sits at 3rd in the MAAC behind Quinnipiac and Marist. Quinnipiac leads the conference, boasting a 12-3 conference record (16-10 overall) and Marist holds on to the 2-seed with an 11-3 mark (18-5 overall). The Warriors trail right behind at 11-4 (14-12 overall) with Mount St Mary’s and Manhattan climbing up to respectable 8-6 conference records. From there, Merrimack’s next two opponents, Iona and Sacred Heart, flaunt the only other records above .500, at 8-7 and 7-7, respectively.
Looking past this weekend, the Warriors will close out the regular season with a three-game stretch, consisting of two at home, and the last on the road. Next Friday the 28th, the Rider Broncs will be in town for a 7 pm tip-off in Lawler. Then next Sunday, March 2nd, the Warriors will host MAAC front-runner Quinnipiac at Lawler for a massive contest. Then on March 6th, the Warriors will close out their season on the road in another enormous matchup vs. second-place Marist.
After the conclusion of the regular season, the 2025 MAAC men’s basketball tournament will take place. Only the top 10 teams according to conference record will participate in the tournament, and the top six will receive a bye and automatically advance to the quarterfinals. The games will take place between March 11th through the 15th, and all games will be broadcasted on various ESPN channels. The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA March Madness tournament, which is widely regarded as one of the most exciting annual events in all of sports. Merrimack, show some support for your Warriors!
