Men's Basketball Extends Winning Streak, 87-64, vs. Pace Wednesday Night
Links: Box Score | James Kennedy Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's basketball team led essentially the entire game against Pace University, dismantling the Setters, 87-64, on Wednesday night at Hammel Court.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 87 | Pace 64
Records: Merrimack (7-6, 2-6 NE-10) | Pace (4-10, 0-7 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court| North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "That was a hard-fought game and I'm proud of the way the guys played. We took control of the game early in the first half, and I was pleased with the defensive intensity we brought, especially over the first 20 minutes. We need to learn to maintain that type of intensity for a full 40 minutes, but I'm proud of the way the guys competed tonight against a talented Pace team. That's a much-needed conference victory.
How It Happened
Pace got on the board early, leading Merrimack 4-2 less than two minutes into the contest. Unfortunately for the Setters, that would be their largest lead of the game.
Junior guard Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) swished a three-pointer to give the Warriors a 5-4 advantage. With 11:40 left in the half, and Merrimack only up by one point, Travonne Berry-Rogers (Lynn, Mass.) hit his second of back-to-back threes to give the Warriors a 15-11 lead.
With the score reading 22-16 with less than nine minutes to go in the half, Merrimack went on one of its best runs of the game. The Warriors outscored Pace, 14-2, over the next 3:25 to double up the Setters, 36-18. Troy Hammel hit three-pointers at to start and end the stretch, while Riley Calzonetti (Neptune City, N.J.) scored six of his eight points during that stretch.
Merrimack led by as many as 19 points in the first stanza, taking a 45-27 advantage into halftime. Solano and Hammel each had 10 points for the Warriors at the break, while forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
It was more of the same in the second half, with the Setters never getting closer than 12 points. Solano slammed home a dunk on the break in the second half to provide one of the many second-half highlights.
Hammel scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second stanza, including two-of-four from three-point range. Junior forward Marcus Swedberg (Moultonborough, N.H.) added four points off of the bench, while freshman Victor Udoji (Randolph, Mass.) scored his first career points on a layup with less than two minutes to go.
Inside The Numbers
- It is the fourth time this season than Hammel has scored at least 20 points, including reaching that feat in each of the last three games. He has scored in double figures in 11 of Merrimack's 13 games played this season
- Out on the break: Merrimack outscored Pace by 21 points on the fastbreak. The Warriors forced the Setters into 14 turnovers, scoring 16 points off of those turnovers.
- Dominance inside: The Warriors scored nearly half of their points in paint, outscoring the Setters 40-30 in the blue stuff
- The Warriors nearly shot 50 percent as a team for the third consecutive game, falling three percentage points short (33-of-70)
- Kennedy recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. It's the sixth time this season that he has reached double digits in scoring, but only the first time that he has eclipsed the 10-board mark
Up Next
The Warriors hit the road for the first time in 2015 when Merrimack takes on the College of Saint Rose on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Albany, N.Y.
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