Dec 21, 2008

Men's Basketball Looks to Improve to 7-1 on Monday at Franklin Pierce


MERRIMACK COLLEGE MEN'S BASKETBALL

Game #8 at Franklin Pierce, Monday December 22, 2008, 3 p.m.

Tonight's game: The Warriors go for their second straight win when they visit Franklin Pierce Monday. Merrimack is receiving votes in the NABC Division II Poll for the third straight week.

Last Season: Merrimack defeated the Ravens 85-78 behind a career-high 32 points from Micky Burtnyk. Darren Duncan and Dee Mency each had double-doubles in the win.

All-Time Series: Merrimack is 9-5 lifetime against the Ravens.

Recapping Last Game: Jared Brownlee scored the game-winning layup with ten seconds to play in regulation and took a charge defensively on the next play to key a 69-66 victory for the Merrimack over American International College. With the game tied at 65 and 33.5 seconds left, Brownlee appeared to block Aikeem Vanderhorst’s shot but the junior center was whistled for the foul. After Vanderhorst converted one of two free throws to give AIC the 66-65 lead, junior All-American Darren Duncan drove to the hoop and dished off to Brownlee for the easy lay-in, giving Merrimack the lead with 25 seconds left. With 10 seconds left, Adrian Hynes-Guery got to the hoop and looked to give the Yellow Jackets the lead for good, but, as the basket fell through the netting, Hynes-Guery was called for the charging foul, with Brownlee drawing it, giving the ball back to the Warriors who still led by one. Duncan sunk two free throws to seal the three-point road victory for Merrimack. Duncan finished with 30 points, five assists and four steals and converted 12 of 14 free throws. Brownlee came off the bench to pickup 10 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes. Roland Davis added nine points in 19 minutes as the freshman made his second straight start.

Excellent Start: Merrimack started 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference for the second straight season. Last year, Merrimack started the season 6-0 for the first time in school history while earning a #25 national ranking.

Duncan Reaches 1,000: Junior captain Darren Duncan became the 35th member of Merrimack’s 1,000 point club on November 24 against Southern New Hampshire. A Preseason All-American by the Sporting News, he was named to the Northeast-10 2007-2008 First Team and was the NE-10 Freshman of the Year in 2006-2007. Last year he was also a Second Team selection for the Daktronics All-Region team.

More Duncan: Duncan leads the Northeast-10 in scoring (22.3) and in assists (7.9) per game.

Road Warriors: Merrimack is in the midst of a five-game road trip. They will not return home until January 6 when they host Bentley.

Big Scorers:
Merrimack averages 84.1 points per game and has a scoring margin of 11.7 points per game. Both of which rank first in the Northeast-10. The Warriors also lead the conference in free throw percentage (74.0%).

Welcome to the NCAA:
Freshman Wayne Mack made a nice first impression in the Merrimack lineup, scoring 20 and 16 in the first two games while hitting 14-of-21 from the field and 6-of-8 from three-point territory. Teammate Roland Davis, also a freshman, averages 12 points per game.

Crashing the boards: Senior Chris Winters ranks eighth in the conference in rebounds per game with 8.3.

Mency making his mark:
Last year’s Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year Dee Mency ranks ninth in the conference with 15.4 points per game.

Merrimack head coach Bert Hammel: Now in his 29th year, Hammel is 413-391 all-time. He won his 400th game last January 22nd with a win at St. Anselm. He has brought Merrimack to the NCAA tourney four times, with the most recent being last season. Hammel is a 1973 graduate of Bentley College.

Preseason Poll: Merrimack was picked second in the Northeast-10 preseason poll behind two-time defending champion Bentley University.