Merrimack Drops Franklin Pierce, 75-60
Warriors clinch playoff spot, Ravens fail to clinch home court
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (February 17, 2007) - Merrimack College clinched a playoff spot and forced Franklin Pierce to wait until the final night of the regular season to clinch home court in the opening round with a 75-60 victory in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Volpe Center this afternoon.
Senior Kenny Jones (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) led four Merrimack players in double-figures with a game-high 20 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the field to go with a 5-of-7 effort at the free-throw line, four rebounds and two assists. Junior Gerry Corcoran (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) added 19 points, shooting 6-7 from the field, including 4-5 from three-point range, to go with nine rebounds, three steals and two assists in 29 minutes off the bench.
Freshman Darren Duncan (Briarwood, N.Y./Christ the King) converted 11-of-14 free-throw attempts in netting 13 points to go with eight assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Freshman Jared Brownlee (Portland, Maine/Portland) totaled ten points and five rebounds, while sophomore Chiedozie Offiah (London, England) grabbed a team-best ten rebounds off the bench.
Sophomore Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania) notched his first collegiate double-double with career-high totals of 15 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, and ten rebounds. Senior Darryl Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) also netted 15 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the field, to go with seven rebounds, while sophomore Timothy Munch (Blauvelt, N.Y./Storm King Prep) added ten points, four rebounds and four assists.
Merrimack went to the free-throw line 18 more times than Franklin Pierce and out-scored the Ravens 25-9 at the stripe for the contest. The Warriors shot 41.5-percent (22-of-53) from the field, including 6-19 (31.6%) from three-point range. The Ravens shot 38.3-percent (23-60) from the floor, including 25% (8-32) in the first half, and converted just 5-27 (18.5%) three-point shots.
Franklin Pierce used an 11-2 run to take an eight-point lead (14-6) just 5:50 into the contest after a Marcus Wellman (Monroe, Conn./Hamden Hall) three-pointer and a layup from Minnifield. Merrimack drew even (19-19) after back-to-back three-pointers from Corcoran with 8:55 left in the stanza.
The game was still tied (23-23) with 5:33 left in the opening half when Merrimack closed out the period with an 11-2 run of its own to take a nine-point (34-25) lead into the intermission. Seven of the Warriors points during that stretch came at the line, while Corcoran scored four points in that spell.
Senior Tom Sipsey (Salem, N.H./Central Catholic) drained a three-pointer to put Merrimack up 12 (39-27) 1:09 into the second half, but Franklin Pierce closed within four (39-25) after a Munch jumper with 16:20 to play. The Ravens would go scoreless over the next five minutes as the Warriors regained a double-figure lead.
Franklin Pierce closed within four twice more, the last coming after a Wellman layup (48-44) with 9:25 to go, but Merrimack regained control with a 13-4 run to open a 13-point cushion (61-48) after another Corcoran three with 5:36 to play. The Ravens were able to close within eight (66-58) after a Varanauskas jumper with 3:10 on the clock, but Merrimack held them to just two points the rest of the way and hit 6-7 free-throws down the stretch to ice the victory.
Franklin Pierce (12-13, 10-11 NE-10) rounds out its Conference slate on Tuesday when it hosts Saint Michael's College at 7:30 p.m. The Ravens can clinch home court advantage for the first round of the upcoming NE-10 Tournament with a win. Merrimack (8-19, 7-14 NE-10) visits Bryant University on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.