Stone scored a team-high ten points with five rebounds (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

Minor double-double powers Warriors to third-straight win, second place tie with Skyhawks in NEC standings

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (February 9, 2023) – Merrimack College held Stonehill College to a season-low scoring output and increased the logjam atop the Northeast Conference standings with a 56-43 victory in NEC men's basketball action on Bert Hammel Court inside the Volpe Athletic Complex tonight.

Senior Jordan Minor led three from Merrimack in double-figures with a double-double performance of 16 points and ten rebounds, with three assists and two blocked shots. Classmate Ziggy Reid added 13 points, aided by 7-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line, with seven rebounds and three blocks, while freshman Javon Bennett totaled ten points, four steals, two assists and two boards.

Junior Thatcher Stone was the lone Stonehill player in double-figures with ten points and five rebounds, while postgrad Cole Bergan contributed a season-high eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, with four rebounds and two blocked shots. Fifth-year Shamir Johnson chipped in eight points and three boards off the bench for the Skyhawks.

Fifth-year Isaiah Burnett recorded his 75^th and 76^th steals of the season, marking the most in a single-season by a Stonehill player since the NCAA started tracking the statistic in 1992-93. He surpasses the previous high of 74 thefts by head coach Chris Kraus, '06 during his senior year in which the Skyhawks captured their first NCAA II East Regional Championship on their way to the Division II National Semifinals. It marks Burnett's eighth-straight game with multiple steals and gives him at least one steal in 33-straight games dating back to last season, having entered the game leading Division I basketball in steals.

Bergan added a season-high eight points, with four rebounds and two blocked shots (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

Merrimack led by a point at the intermission despite 25.8-percent shooting (8-for-31) in the first half, taking advantage of 14 Stonehill turnovers over the first 20-minutes to outscore the Skyhawks 7-0 in points off. Sophomore Devon Savage opened the scoring in the second half to push the Merrimack lead to four (24-20). After Minor and Stonehill fifth-year Andrew Sims traded baskets, the Warriors reeled off a 13-2 run to open a 15-point lead (39-34), sparked by three-straight three-pointers, after a pair of Reid free-throws less than five minutes in.

Stonehill trimmed its deficit to 11 (45-34) after a Sims layup midway through the half, but a three-pointer from senior Jordan McKoy sparked Merrimack to an 18-point lead (52-34) with 6:45 remaining after four-straight from Minor. The Skyhawks cut the lead to 13 three times down the stretch, but would get no closer.         

Noteworthy

• Merrimack (8-4 NEC) moves into a tie with Stonehill (8-4) in the NEC standings with four games to play, a half-game behind Fairleigh Dickinson (8-3) who returned to first place in the Conference standings with a narrow 80-79 triumph at LIU tonight. Saint Francis (6-5) sits just a game behind the Skyhawks and Warriors, with St. Francis Brooklyn (6-6) and Sacred Heart (6-6) only two games back and Wagner (5-6) merely two back in the loss column.
• Merrimack recovered from its 26% first half shooting to connect on 50% (12-24) of its shots in the second, including 5-for-11 (45.5%) from three.
• Stonehill finished with 21 turnovers on the night, with Merrimack outscoring the Skyhawks 16-5 in points off.
• Burnett (76 steals) and Bennett (72) share the NEC lead with 2.8 steals per game.
• Burnett has multiple steals in 23 of Stonehill's 27 games this season.
• Sims moves into 31^st place on Stonehill's career scoring list with 1,099 points in 99 career games, slipping past Derrik Jerman, '93 (1,098), and is now 21 points shy of cracking the program's career top 30.
• Stone scored in double-figures for the fourth time this season and first since scoring 11 points against Rider University on December 7.

Up Next
Stonehill (12-15, 8-4 NEC) is right back in action on Saturday, when it hosts St. Francis Brooklyn for an NEC clash at Merkert Gymnasium at 2 p.m. Merrimack (10-16, 8-4 NEC) visits Saint Francis (Pa.) University on Saturday at 4 p.m.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.