Men’s Basketball’s Winning Streak Snapped by Bentley 91-68
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack men’s basketball
team’s four-game winning streak was snapped by two-time
defending Northeast-10 Champion Bentley University 91-68 Tuesday
night at the Volpe Gym.
The Falcons led the entire game while dominating the paint,
outscoring Merrimack 42-24 down low.
Foul trouble doomed the Warriors in the first half, and ultimately
in the game, as Darren Duncan (Briarwood, NY) was
forced to play with two fouls for the final 13:15 of the first
frame. In addition, Dee Mency (Hagerstown, MD),
who scored 16 of Merrimack’s first 23 points, was forced to
the bench with 3:07 remaining with three fouls. Merrimack shot just
10-for-34 from the field and 2-for-15 from behind the arc, while
the Falcons out rebounded the Warriors 24-13 and scored 11 points
off turnovers and 18 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
The second half was much of the same as the Falcons scored the
first 10 points to take a 51-25 lead, while Mency was whistled for
his fourth foul just 59 seconds in. By the time he returned at the
15:24 mark of the second, the Warriors trailed by 31, 60-29, and
the game was out of reach.
Mency finished with a game-high 25 points in just 29 minutes,
while Duncan added 16 points and eight assists but was 5-for-17
from the field. He entered Tuesday’s game ranked second in
the nation in assists per game. Wayne Mack (Paterson,
NJ) added nine points, all in the second half. Merrimack
finished 6-for-31 from behind the arc and 23-for-69 overall from
the field.
Lew Finnegan and Brian Tracey each scored 20 points to lead
Bentley’s balanced attack. Jason Westrol (19 points) and Tom
Dowling (16 points) were also in double figures as the Falcons
improved to 10-4 overall, 4-3 in the Northeast-10. Bentley shot 53%
from the field in the game and 43% from three-point range, while
scoring 24 of its points off Merrimack turnovers.
Merrimack (9-2, 5-2 NE-10) hosts Le Moyne College Thursday night
at 7:30 p.m. at the Volpe Gym.
