Men's Basketball Ranked Third in East Region
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - In the first NCAA Division II regional ranking of the year on Wednesday, the Merrimack men's basketball team checked in at third in the East Region under 30-year head coach Bert Hammel.
Northeast-10 leader, #12 Bentley University (17-2, 12-2 NE-10) leads the way at No. 1 in the East Region, while rival Stonehill College (17-4, 12-2 NE-10) comes in at second, while receiving 10 votes in the national poll.
When February rolls around, Merrimack will see the likes of Bentley on the road (Feb. 3), East Region six-seed St. Anselm (Feb. 6) and Stonehill (Feb. 9) at home and East Region five-seed UMass-Lowell (Feb. 13) in Lowell.
Of the 10 teams in the East Region, seven hail from the Northeast-10 while the remaining three come from the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference (CACC). No teams from the region's third conference, the East Coast Conference (ECC), are represented in the poll, but one team will get one of eight berths in the East Regional tournament in March.
With a 13-4 (11-3 NE-10) record midway through the year and a recent 11-game win streak over two months, the Warriors only loss in 2010 has come at the hands of Pace University when Merrimack was without all-conference guard Dee Mency (Hagerstown, MD). Mency has scored 1,299 points in his career and led Merrimack in scoring (19.5 ppg) through the first half of the season with 48% shooting from beyond the arc.
In Mency's absence, senior captain Darren Duncan (Briarwood, NY) has shouldered the load with 19.1 points per game and a league-leading 7.35 assists and 2.41 steals per game. A Bob Cousy Award finalist, Duncan recently became the fifth player in Merrimack history to score 1,800 points, passing fellow Cousy Award finalist and recipient Roger Damphousse '62.
Merrimack is back in action on Saturday at the University of New Haven for a 4:00pm tip-off in West Haven, Connecticut against the Chargers.
NCAA Division II Regional Ranking
|
ATLANTIC |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
13-1 |
13-1 | |
|
2. |
West Liberty |
13-1 |
13-1 |
|
3. |
West Virginia State |
13-2 |
12-2 |
|
4. |
Kutztown |
14-1 |
13-1 |
|
5. |
East Stroudsburg |
13-1 |
13-1 |
|
6. |
Alderson-Broaddus |
12-2 |
12-2 |
|
7. |
West Chester |
12-4 |
11-4 |
|
8. |
Saint Augustine's |
12-3 |
11-3 |
|
9. |
Mansfield |
10-5 |
9-4 |
|
10. |
Fairmont State |
9-2 |
9-2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
EAST |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
16-2 |
16-2 | |
|
2. |
Stonehill |
15-3 |
15-3 |
|
3. |
Merrimack |
12-4 |
12-4 |
|
4. |
Adelphi |
14-6 |
14-6 |
|
5. |
Massachusetts-Lowell |
12-6 |
11-5 |
|
6. |
Saint Anselm |
12-6 |
12-6 |
|
7. |
12-3 |
12-2 | |
|
8. |
13-6 |
11-6 | |
|
9. |
Southern New Hampshire |
11-7 |
10-7 |
|
10. |
12-4 |
12-4 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
CENTRAL |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
12-1 |
10-0 | |
|
2. |
Minn. St. Mankato |
14-1 |
13-1 |
|
3. |
Metro State |
11-2 |
11-2 |
|
4. |
Augustana (South Dakota) |
12-2 |
12-2 |
|
5. |
Mary |
9-7 |
9-7 |
|
6. |
Fort Lewis |
11-3 |
11-3 |
|
7. |
St. Cloud State |
10-4 |
10-4 |
|
8. |
Colorado Christian |
6-6 |
6-6 |
|
9. |
Winona State |
10-5 |
10-5 |
|
10. |
Upper Iowa |
9-9 |
9-9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MIDWEST |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
13-2 |
13-2 | |
|
2. |
Kentucky Wesleyan |
14-3 |
11-2 |
|
3. |
Drury |
11-3 |
11-3 |
|
4. |
Quincy |
13-2 |
12-2 |
|
5. |
Central State (Ohio) |
12-3 |
12-2 |
|
6. |
Lake Superior State |
10-5 |
10-4 |
|
7. |
Saginaw Valley |
9-5 |
9-5 |
|
8. |
Findlay |
11-3 |
11-3 |
|
9. |
Rockhurst |
9-6 |
9-6 |
|
10. |
Bellarmine |
12-5 |
11-5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOUTH |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
14-0 |
14-0 | |
|
2. |
Clark Atlanta |
12-1 |
12-1 |
|
3. |
Valdosta State |
14-2 |
14-2 |
|
4. |
Rollins |
9-3 |
8-3 |
|
5. |
Delta State |
10-3 |
10-3 |
|
6. |
Florida Southern |
11-2 |
9-2 |
|
7. |
Tuskegee |
8-3 |
8-3 |
|
8. |
Barry |
8-4 |
6-4 |
|
9. |
Christian Brothers |
10-5 |
10-5 |
|
10. |
Alabama-Huntsville |
12-5 |
10-5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOUTH CENTRAL |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
12-0 |
12-0 | |
|
2. |
Central Missouri |
13-1 |
11-1 |
|
3. |
Midwestern State |
12-1 |
12-1 |
|
4. |
Nebraska-Omaha |
11-4 |
11-4 |
|
5. |
Central Oklahoma |
14-3 |
14-3 |
|
6. |
Southwest Baptist |
13-5 |
12-5 |
|
7. |
Tarleton State |
12-3 |
12-3 |
|
8. |
Missouri Western State |
10-6 |
10-5 |
|
9. |
Northeastern State |
10-5 |
10-5 |
|
10. |
Newman |
10-4 |
10-4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOUTHEAST |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
13-1 |
13-1 | |
|
2. |
Francis Marion |
9-1 |
9-1 |
|
3. |
Georgia College |
11-2 |
11-2 |
|
4. |
Catawba |
11-6 |
10-5 |
|
5. |
Mount Olive |
13-4 |
13-4 |
|
6. |
Anderson (SC) |
12-3 |
12-3 |
|
7. |
North Georgia |
9-5 |
9-5 |
|
8. |
Montevallo |
12-2 |
12-2 |
|
9. |
Barton |
11-4 |
11-4 |
|
10. |
Limestone |
9-5 |
9-5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
WEST |
Division II Overall Record |
Division II In-Region Record | |
|
1. |
13-2 |
13-2 | |
|
2. |
Western Washington |
14-3 |
13-2 |
|
3. |
Alaska Anchorage |
7-2 |
7-2 |
|
4. |
Cal St. San B'dino |
9-2 |
9-2 |
|
5. |
Dixie State |
11-3 |
11-3 |
|
6. |
Humboldt State |
12-4 |
12-4 |
|
7. |
Mont. St.-Billings |
7-5 |
7-5 |
|
8. |
BYU-Hawaii |
7-4 |
5-4 |
|
9. |
Central Washington |
7-5 |
7-4 |
|
10. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
7-4 |
7-4 |
