by jksander » Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:38 am
January 23, 2022
St. Francis (NY) (5-12, 2-4) @ Merrimack (13-4, 5-1)
St. Francis got out to a 2-5 lead early, but our fans are becoming quite the noisemakers, and the pressure shook them quickly. We led 9-7 with 15:39 remaining in the half, thanks to a Bill Ellis jumper and free throw, and though the lead would change a few times from there, our players held their ground. Up 25-21 with 9:37 left in the half, we cracked down defensively and took the game over. We would outscore them 22-5 the remainder of the half, leading in blowout form 47-26 at the break. The second half wasn’t anything particularly showy, but we didn’t let them anywhere near a comeback story. In the end it was a decisive 91-61 win we could add to our resume.
Player of the Game: Bill Ellis (25 pts 10 reb 5 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Mike Brown (12 pts 3 reb 2 ast 1 stl) Sam Keating (11 pts 3 reb 2 ast 2 stl 2 blk)
January 26, 2022
Merrimack (14-4, 6-1) @ Sacred Heart (5-13, 3-4)
[Off Topic: The real-world mod abbreviates Sacred Heart as SHART. Now you know.]
Sacred Heart scored the game’s first six points, leading 2-10 with 16:38 to play in the half. But a 19-foot jumper by Bill Ellis capped a 17-8 run on our part, giving us the lead 19-18 with 11:34 remaining, and this game was a thing! A 9-2 run from there put us firmly in control, and though they at one point fought back to within three, we led by double figures up 53-43 at the break. Ellis, who had 27 points in the first half, stayed hot in the second, but we needed all his scoring to keep us comfortably ahead – the Pioneers kept fighting back to within single digits, then we’d build it back, and so it went. With 10:26 to go we held a 76-61 advantage, our biggest of the game that far, and from there we broke it open. The deep reserves came in with six minutes to go and us up by 21. We’d go on to win easily, 92-75.
Player of the Game: Bill Ellis (47 pts 14 reb 3 ast 1 stl 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Sam Keating (11 pts 2 reb 1 ast) Vince Rawlings (10 pts 2 reb 2 ast 1 blk)
January 29, 2022
The Norton Award Top 30 has been announced, and as expected Mike Brown is not on the list. It remains a mystery why he was nominated and Bill Ellis was not … Ellis would clearly be a front-runner had he made the cut.
January 30, 2022
Fairleigh Dickinson (9-10, 7-1) @ Merrimack (15-4, 7-1)
Central Connecticut remains undefeated, but we get our chance to play the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson today for the chance to take firm control of second position in the conference race, so there’s a lot riding on our energy in front of a raucous home crowd. The two games we get against the Knights plus our last shot against Central Connecticut will be our only remaining chances to impress the tournament committee before our conference tourney – the rest of the Northeast this year is a quagmire of mediocrity. And even two wins against the Knights might not help us much, with their sub-.500 record coming into this game overall.
This game was never close. We led 14-4 four minutes in, and despite the Knights proving to be quite a strong scoring team down the stretch of the half, we were definitely stronger. At the break we led 55-45, and we opened the second half on a 10-1 run in the first 2:30. It wasn’t close – we won this one in a 96-78 blowout, moving one step closer to the top of the Northeast.
Player of the Game: Bill Ellis (42 pts 17 reb 5 ast 4 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Sam Keating (14 pts 1 reb 2 ast 2 stl) Rashard Crosby (13 pts 3 ast 1 stl)
February 2, 2022
Central Connecticut (13-7, 8-1) @ Merrimack (16-4, 8-1)
On Monday night, Central Connecticut lost a stunner to the Long Island Sharks by a 72-90 margin, so our rematch here will do more than give us a chance to move into a tie for first. It will give us a chance to take sole possession of the top spot in the conference! We’ve won eight in a row since losing to them on their court 79-90, and we’ve spent this week building ourselves up for a grudge match for the ages.
They drew first blood with a pair of threes, but we answered with a 9-3 run of our own to tie this f---er with 16:03 to play in the first half. A Sean Keating dunk gave us the lead shortly thereafter, and we kept the momentum going in our favor, leading 15-9 with 14:20 to play. Six minutes in Ellis was in double figures scoring, and we dismantled them from there. After scoring nine points in the first four minutes of the game, the Blue Devils were held scoreless for six and a half minutes before a free throw put our lead at 27-10. And they wouldn’t score from the field until Ross Roberts nailed a three at the 7:34 mark, at which point we led 32-13. Hardly a fair fight, it would seem. By halftime we were up 45-29, a score made closer only by the minutes we’d given our bench players which let the play catch-up. A 12-2 run to open the second half put the nails in, and we’d coast from there to a dominating 83-48 defensive win.
Player of the Game: Bill Ellis (28 pts 15 reb 1 ast 4 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Mike Brown (14 pts 1 reb 1 ast 1 blk) Vince Rawlings (9 pts 1 ast)
February 6, 2022
#24 Merrimack (17-4, 9-1) @ Saint Francis (PA) (8-13, 3-7)
Say hello to the first national ranking in program history! We’re not yet ranked in the Coaches Poll, and our NET ranking has slipped to #21 thanks to our weak conference, but the fact that we’re still considered to have such a tough-played schedule says a ton about how the computers are valuing our initial 8-3 run before conference play.
We control our destiny at this point, but we’re not going to have a lot of margin for error either. Eight games plus the conference tournament stand between us and the NCAA Tournament, and every team in the conference from here on out is going to want to spoil our shot.
Case in point, tonight’s game. We played sluggishly at the start and St. Francis scored the first five points, and with 14:12 to play in the first half we were down 2-8 in a defensive slugfest. We’d fight back to tie it 8-8 with 12:29 to play, and we took a 12-11 lead on a Mike Brown free throw moments later. But we didn’t look like a top-25 team. We kept fighting and with 3:45 to play we still held a 31-30 lead, and we’d outscore them 13-7 down the stretch to lead 44-37 at the break.
We squandered the momentum, however, and St. Francis fought back to the lead briefly before Ellis hit a 9-footer with 15:36 to play putting us back ahead 48-47. They then retook the lead, built it to six, and we clawed back again. Vince Rawlings made a pair of free throws with 7:30 to go, giving us back the 60-59 advantage, but their home crowd was emboldened and we’d need everything we had to put this one away. With free throws, and then a Vince Rawlings triple that silenced the crowd for the first time in the half, we started to expand our advantage, leading 65-59 – our biggest lead since the break. But they wouldn’t quit, and we seemed to be running on fumes. Up 68-67 with just 3:16 to play, we steeled ourselves for the finish. They’d briefly tie it at 70, but we held tough from the line and made all the key free throws to make sure this one stayed in the win column, 80-70 – a game that was far closer than the margin would indicate.
Player of the Game: Bill Ellis (18 pts 12 reb 3 ast 1 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Mike Brown (21 pts 2 reb 1 blk) Vince Rawlings (9 pts 1 ast 1 blk)
February 9, 2022
Mount St. Mary’s (8-14, 4-7) @ #24 Merrimack (18-4, 10-1)
This one was the opposite of the last game, as we powered our way to a 25-15 advantage with just over ten minutes left to play in the first half, with our bench putting up enough points midway through the half to keep us well ahead even with Ellis and Brown starting out a bit tight. Ellis would finish the half with 16 points, most of them scored down the stretch, and we led 53-34 at the break. The second half was never in doubt, and we won it easily with a solid all around performance, 83-63.
Player of the Game: Bill Ellis (29 pts 12 reb 3 ast 2 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Sam Keating (10 pts 5 reb 1 stl 1 blk) Joel Mattox (10 pts 5 reb 1 ast 1 blk)
We rose two spots in the Media Poll this week, though the Coaches apparently think we’re overrated – they’ve yet to vote us onto their poll. We’ve maintained our one game lead in the conference over Central Connecticut and Fairleigh Dickinson, but our next opponent, on the road, will be the Long Island Sharks (15-8, 7-5) who stand firmly in fourth place. Theirs, I suspect, will not be a friendly arena when we play on Monday. With the final third of the conference season left to play, any stumble will put our lead position in doubt, and any of the top four teams could make a run.
Last edited by
jksander on Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:24 am, edited 1 time in total.