Merrimack stops St. Francis' streaks, sweeps basketball doubleheader
LORETTO — This is a recap of the men's game:
Merrimack (12-8, 6-1), in its first full-season in Division I, took over sole possession of first place on Monday night with a 72-55 win at Saint Francis (12-6, 5-2 NEC). In the process, Saint Francis saw its five-game winning streak come to a close.
Krimmel's Reaction
"It was an honor for our guys to play on Martin Luther King Day," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "We talked with our guys before the game about how he set an example fir how to respond when things don't go your way. Tonight, Merrimack was the better team. They imposed their will and style of play on us and executed really well down the stretch."
Turning Point
Saint Francis overcame a slow start to take its biggest lead of the night, 32-24, after two free throws from sophomore Myles Thompson (Camden, N.J./Camden). Merrimack closed the half, just as it started it, on a 10-2 run to send the teams into the half tied at 34-34. The Warriors started the second half like it did the first, scoring the first 10 points to build a double digit lead. Merrimack outscored Saint Francis 20-2 from 3:48 of the first half to 15:57 of the second half and Saint Francis couldn't recover.
This is a recap of the women's game:
Saint Francis women’s basketball (7-11, 5-2 NEC) was unable to overcome a strong Merrimack (11-7, 4-3 NEC) team in a 71-56 defeat on Monday afternoon at DeGol Arena. Jenna Mastellone led the Red Flash in scoring, tying her career-high with 14 points.
A back-and-forth start to the game had the teams tied 6-6 following a Sam Miller layup with 4:33 to play in the first quarter. The Warriors held an 11-6 lead with 1:26 remaining and led 15-10 at the end of the first stanza.
Haley Thomas’ jumper trimmed the margin to 18-16 before a 9-0 Warriors run put the visitors ahead 27-16 with 5:48 to go in the second quarter. Merrimack extended its lead to 34-20 before Mastellone connected on a three-pointer for the Red Flash with 2:35 left. The Warriors held a 36-25 halftime advantage.
Saint Francis started strong in the third quarter as a Thomas jumper cut the margin to 38-32 with 6:57 remaining. A 10-2 Merrimack run pushed the lead to 48-34 with just under three minutes to go in the third frame. SFU continued to stay within shouting distance, pulling within nine following a Jada Dapaa layup with 22 seconds left. The Warriors led 51-40 at the end of the third period.
Merrimack held a double-digit lead for the entire fourth quarter, taking its largest lead of the game at 71-52 with 3:11 remaining in the contest. Kayley Kovac and Dapaa scored field goals in the final two minutes to produce the final score.