by jksander » Sun Mar 06, 2022 2:36 am
January 23, 2023
Merrimack (14-3, 6-0) @ Mount St. Mary’s (9-8, 3-3)
Mount St. Mary’s did not come out scared. The Mountaineers led us 9-10 with 16:31 to play in the first half, and though they wanted to give off the look ‘dare to take us unseriously,’ a 17-6 stretch for our Warriors put them severely in the rearview, down 26-16 with 10:34 remaining in the first half. They had no need to fear us, only a need to get out of our way en route to a 48-32 halftime lead, with Rashard Crosby (9 pts 7 reb 2 ast) staring down a double double. The Mountaineers scored the first two points of the half but we responded by gutting them, leading by 20 with 13:22 to go, gliding to a 74-62 victory even as we took our foot off the gas.
Player of the Game: Rashard Crosby (15 pts 13 reb 2 ast)
Honorable Mentions: Derrick Jacobs (15 pts 2 reb 2 ast 2 stl) Joel Mattox (5 pts 10 reb 5 ast 3 stl)
January 26, 2023
Sacred Heart (10-8, 6-1) @ Merrimack (15-3, 7-0)
This game looks to be our shot at breaking out to a dominating lead in the Northeast standings, as Sacred Heart (a game back) holds a game lead on 5-2 Long Island and a two game lead on 4-3 St. Francis, with the four teams below standing at 3-4 with barely a glimmer of hope in the conference race. The Pioneers looked to have an advantage in height, but at this point I’ll take Mike Brown, Derrick Jacobs and Rashard Crosby as enforcers to be beat by only the best.
We didn’t open effectively, starting out 6-0, letting them outscore us 7-0 in response, and then spending a four minute stretch outscoring them 7-2 en route to a 13-9 lead with seven minutes expired. But we clamped down over the next four minutes to build a 25-15 lead, daring the Pioneers to fight back. But our defense crushed them down the stretch and we went into the break leading 43-32. We opened the second half strongly, expanding our lead to 57-42 with 12:32 to play, at which point we broke their resolve. Up 66-46 with 10:28 left to play, we neutered them down the stretch to win big 85-61. If there’s anyone who can beat us in this conference we’ve yet to face them.
Player of the Game: Derrick Jacobs (22 pts 1 reb)
Honorable Mentions: Rashard Crosby (11 pts 6 reb 2 stl) Aaron McDonald (14 pts 1 reb 4 ast)
January 30, 2023
Merrimack (16-3, 8-0) @ Saint Francis (PA) (7-12, 4-4)
On January 2, 2022 we lost to Central Connecticut on the road, 79-90. Since then we’ve won 25 consecutive regular season Northeast Conference games (28 if you include our conference tourney dominance) and have firmly asserted our dominance therein. People are already asking if I, the “Merrimack Miracle Maker,” have another Final Four in me before I jump ship to some greener pastures. I, meanwhile, am looking firmly at remaining undefeated in the conference, where on the road no games are ‘given.’
Case in point? Today’s game, in which the Red Flash built a 2-7 lead on us in the first four minutes, leading by as many as 10 points before we clawed our way back. Down 11-17 with 9:32 to play in the first half, we stole the lead on a pair of Vince Rawlings free throws to cap a 7-0 run with just 5:33 remaining! Four lead changes later we went into the half clinging to a 28-24 lead, knowing we needed to play our asses off to remain unbeaten. We opened the second half on an 11-5 run to extend OUR lead to double digits with 15:15 remaining. The Red Flash twice pulled within four and were able to keep things close, but we maintained our lead, up 58-48 with 3:04 remaining in the game. We shut them down from there and won convincingly 68-54.
Player of the Game: Mike Brown (13 pts 1 reb 1 ast 1 stl 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Josh Cabrera (11 pts 7 reb 1 ast) Aaron McDonald (12 pts 1 ast 3 stl)
February 2, 2023
Merrimack (17-3, 9-0) @ Long Island (12-8, 7-2)
The back half of the conference slate begins tonight, and the Sharks too came out strong on their home court, building a 6-14 lead on us with 14:26 to go in the first half. It is easy to say ‘stick to the game plan’ when you’re down by five or six, but with 12:21 to go we trailed the Sharks 9-20 and were for the first time in months looking legitimately scared out there. I did my best to calm our starting core and urged them to get back out there and fight they were playing in front of our dedicated fans at home. And we fought back appropriately, pulling within seven at one point before trailing again 20-30 with just 7:28 remaining in the first half. But they broke us down the stretch before halftime, leading us 35-52 at the break, with no Warriors in double figures scoring. Trailing by 20 early in the half, fighting back to within 11 midway and then collapsing again, we trailed Long Island 60-81 with 6:35 to go, our largest deficit of the night and (to my knowledge) the season to this point. No matter how well our three-pointers fell there was no comeback in the works tonight. We lost this one humiliatingly, 82-93.
Player of the Game: Rashard Crosby (21 pts 8 reb 2 ast 2 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Derrick Jacobs (14 pts 5 reb 1 ast) Mike Brown (14 pts 1 reb 3 ast 1 stl 2 blk)
February 6, 2023
Bryant (6-15, 4-6) @ Merrimack (17-4, 9-1)
Smelling blood, the Bulldogs came into this one ready to shred flesh, and after half a dozen lead changes we felt lucky to be ahead 12-11 with 14:25 to play in the first half. Four minutes later we held a 24-17 lead on Bryant, but it still felt like we were in a dogfight. We found our bearings from there, however, and asserted our dominance during a 17-8 stretch which gave us a 16-point lead with 4:06 to play in the first half. We led convincingly 51-31 at the break, quickly expanding that least to 30+ early in the second half. With 5:48 to go we led 82-51 and though our foot was off the gas we still dominated our way to a 90-66 victory.
Player of the Game: Mike Brown (33 pts 3 reb 2 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Derrick Jacobs (16 pts 3 reb 6 ast) Rashard Crosby (14 pts 6 reb 2 ast) Paul Morgan (9 pts 5 reb 2 ast 1 blk)
February 9, 2023
Merrimack (18-4, 10-1) @ St. Francis (NY) (11-11, 6-5)
Though we remain atop the conference, Long Island is only a game behind which leaves us no room for error particularly on the road. Though the Terriers are only 11-11 so far this year, they’re itching to take a bite out of our asses. They drew first blood but we broke out to quickly lead St. Francis by a 20-11 margin with 9:49 to go in the half. The Terriers fought to keep it close, but at the half we led 38-28 and looked ready to cruise. But the Terriers clawed back, pulling within two points with 10:18 to go, down 53-51, and taking a stunning 53-55 lead on a pair of free throws with 9:02 to go. They completely shut us down from there as we collapsed offensively, losing this one 63-72 having been outscored by 19 in the second half.
Long Island blew out Sacred Heart 104-74 at home, putting us both in a tie in the conference standings. Unbelievable! With six games left to play we need to win out in order to avoid letting the Sharks steal that top seed.
Player of the Game: Joel Mattox (11 pts 6 reb 1 ast)
Honorable Mentions: Mike Brown (9 pts 1 reb 1 stl 2 blk) Paul Morgan (8 pts 6 reb)