Greyhounds men's basketball rallies past Merrimack, 83-77, hosts Saint Anselm Thursday in Northeast-10 Conference semifinal

March 3, 2009

Assumption 83, Merrimack 77

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. --- Fifth-seeded Assumption College rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Merrimack College, 83-77, in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball playoffs TUESDAY night at the Volpe Center.

The win improved the Greyhounds' record to 20-9, the 15th time in their storied history that the team has won 20-or more games and the second straight season. Merrimack is now 20-8.

The Greyhounds advance to the semifinal round and host Saint Anselm College at the Laska Gym THURSDAY at 7 p.m. Saint Anselm, the ninth-seeded team, defeated top-seeded Bentley University, 88-85.

All four top-seeded teams lost in quarterfinal games tonight. No. 8 Southern New Hampshire defeated No. 2 UMass Lowell, 66-60 and No. 6 Le Moyne defeated Stonehill, 80-66.

In the other semifinal sixth-seeded Le Moyne will host seventh-seeded Southern New Hampshire. All four top-seeded teams lost in their quarterfinal games tonight.

The win also strongly projects the Greyhounds as a possible N.C.A.A. regional tournament representative. The team owns wins over No. 1 Bentley, No. 3 Stonehill, No. 4 Merrimack, and two over No. 6 Le Moyne. The Northeast-10 Conference playoff winner receives an automatic berth in the N.C.A.A. Division II Northeast regional, while the remainder of the eight team field will be announced Sunday night at 10:30 p.m.

Sophomore forward MIKE BALDARELLI (Sutton, MA/Holy Name) (21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) and postgraduate forward GREG TWOMEY (Groton, MA/Groton-Dunstable) (18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) paced the Greyhounds. Junior guard COURTLAND BLUFORD (Ft. Washington, MD/St. Vincent Pallotti) (13 points, 11 in the second half) and senior guard captain PATRICK SHEA (Salem, MA/Salem) (10 points) played well in support roles.

For Merrimack junior guard DARREN DUNCAN (Briarwood, NY.Christ the King) was superb with a double-double 20 points and 14 assists, while freshman guard WAYNE MACK (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) added 19 points, 8 rebounds. Sophomore guard DARIN MENCY (Hagerstown, MD (St. John's Catholic Prep) (16 points) and freshman guard ROLAND DAVIS (Deer Park, NY/St. Dominic's) (12 points) also reached double-figures for the Warrors.

When Twomey hit a turnaround jumper with 6:32 left in the first half the Greyhounds had rallied from an earlier deficit to within two points, 27 29. Merrimack however outscored the Greyhounds, 19-8, for the rest of the period to lead 48-35 at the half. Mack converted an inside move and then drilled a top-of-the-circle three-pointer in the final 12 seconds to finish the half for the Warriors.

Merrimack shot .487 from the floor in the half making 19-of-39 shots, whe the Greyhounds were 13-for-30 at .433. The teams sizzled from behind the arc as Assumption converted five-of-eight (.625) and Merrimack six-of-11 (.545). Duncan had nine points and eight assists in a catalyst role.

The Greyhounds then outscored Merrimack, 48-29, in the second half to win. The team made 18-of-31 attempts from the floor (.581), while defensively limited the Warriors to 12-for-31 (.387) floor accuracy including just two-of-12 from three-point territory.

Twomey made a pair of free throws to bring the Hounds to within one point, 67-66, with 5:34 left. Baldarelli then cashed an offensive rebound to put the Hounds in front, 68-67, before Davis knocked down a wing jumper to give Merrimack its final lead of the game at 69-68 with 4:46 left.

Bluford then converted a conventional three-point play before Mack scored inside for Merrimack to make it 71-71.

A second conventional three-point play by Bluford gave the Hounds the lead for good. Twomey added a wing jumper and followed with an inside move to make it 78-71. After Merrimack junior guard CRAIG WOEHNKER (Colts Neck, NJ/Christian Brothers) scored inside Shea converted three of four free throws to make it an eight-point game, (81-73).

Click here for ASSUMPTION-MERRIMACK box score