Last-Second Trey Sinks Men's Basketball in 77-75 Loss to Bentley Wednesday Night
Links: Highlights | Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior Gelvis Solano (Harlem, N.Y.) scored a game-high 28 points for the Merrimack College men's basketball team on Wednesday night, but a three-pointer by Alex Furness with 2.9 seconds remaining sent the visiting Bentley Falcons home with a victory, 77-75, on Wednesday night from Hammel Court. The contest marked the Northeast-10 opener for both squads, as the programs entered the night ranked among the top three in D2SIDA East Region Media Poll.
The Basics
Score: Bentley 77, Merrimack 75
Records: Merrimack (2-1, 0-1 NE-10) | Bentley (3-0, 1-0 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Bert Hammel: "It was a great game between two very good teams. It was a battle all night long and unfortunately we weren't the ones to come out on top."
How It Happened
Fast forward to 9:41 remaining in the second half with the Falcons leading by four, 57-53, following a layup from senior forward Tyler McFarland. At that point, the Warriors went on a 12-0 run to take a 65-57 lead with less than seven minutes to go.
Senior forward James Kennedy (Dorchester, Mass.) spurred the run with two straight buckets to tie the contest at 57-all. Solano sunk one of his four three-points on the night later during that stretch, while redshirt-junior forward Anthony Barry (Uxbridge, Mass.) put an exclamation point on the surge with an athletic putback to make it a 65-57 game.
Over the next three minutes, the Falcons fought back, scoring nine unanswered points to take a brief lead at 66-65 following a free throw from McFarland with less than three minutes to go. On the next Warriors possession, senior guard Troy Hammel (Valencia, Calif.) hit a three-pointer off a feed from sophomore Kyle Howes (Maynard, Mass.) to put the hosts back on top. Keegan Hyland scored five straight points to make it 71-68, but a layup from JT Strickland (Laurel, Md.) made it a one-point game, 73-72, with 82 seconds to play.
With 40 seconds to go, Solano came up with the play of the night up to that point. Driving into two defenders, the Preseason All-American kissed a layup off glass and was fouled in the process. He hit his next free throw to make it a 75-73 game. After going 1-of-2 from the free throw line, Hyland and Falcons got the ball back for one last possession, with the graduate student finding Alex Furness alone on the right wing for the game-winning three-pointer with just 2.9 seconds remaining.
The local rivals entered the night as the top-two programs in the NE-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, with the Falcons selected as the favorites, and the first half proved that prognostication. Bentley led the majority of the opening half, but its advantage never got larger than seven points. With less than three minutes to play in the first, a layup from Barry gave the Warriors their first lead at 35-34. The Falcons scored four of the final five points to take a 38-36 lead into the halftime break.
Inside The Numbers
- With his 28 points, Solano now has scored in double figures in all three games to start the season. Dating back to last year, he has scored at least 10 points in 13 straight games and 31 of his last 32 contests. He also contributed nine rebounds on the night, finishing one board shy of his second double-double of the season
- Strickland ranked second on the team in scoring with 16 points on seven field goals. He shot 7-of-15, with the majority of his field goals coming from within close. Hammel, the third of Merrimack's three starting guards, also joined his classmate in double figures with 11
- After combining for nine rebounds in his first two games, Barry sent a season high with 12 caroms on the night. He also added nine points, narrowly missing out on his first double-double of the season
- The Falcons finished with three in double figures, led by Hyland with a season-high 23 points while shooting 50 percent from the field. Furness scored all 15 of his points from beyond the arc, with his lone second-half field goal coming on the game-winner
- Milestone Watch: With 1,628 points, Solano is now in ninth place on the all-time scoring list. Strickland needs just 38 points to become the 41st Warrior in program history to reach 1,000 for his career. Hammel is right on the heels of Strickland as he needs 120 more points to join the 1,000-point club
Up Next
The Navy and Gold head up to Southern New Hampshire this weekend as the Warriors will face Philadelphia University and Holy Family in back-to-back days in action hosted by the Penmen. Merrimack will meet the Rams in its first game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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