Merrimack finds its shooting groove but UMass Lowell comes back late to down the Warriors
LOWELL — Offensively, the Merrimack men’s basketball team found its groove. However, UMass Lowell took the lead with seven minutes left and never relinquished it, handing the Warriors an 81-74 loss on Monday night at Costello Gym.
The Warriors led by three points at halftime but allowed 49 points in the second half. The 81 points they allowed was the most the Warriors have given up this season.
“When’s the last time we scored 74 points and lost the game?” Merrimack coach Joe Gallo asked after the game. “We only had eight turnovers, and only two in the second half. It’s the first time we were in a [close] game like that, where every possession mattered. You have to learn how to win as a group before you actually win. There might be 8-10 possessions where we’d like to clean something up, but overall it was a good effort against a really good team on their home court.”
Budd Clark led the Warriors with 19 points. Devon Savage had 11 points.
One of the main storylines was the foul disparity. Three Warriors fouled out — Clark, David Murray, and Sean Trumper — and Lowell took 33 free throws (the Warriors had 13).
Some of the fouls were ill-timed, including the River Hawks getting a 4-point play on a fouled 3-point shot in the first half.
“We got a reaching foul late,” Gallo said. “We got a foul on the three, which I’ll have to take a look to see if it was actually a foul.”
After struggling with 3-point shooting in recent games against high-major opponents, the Warriors settled in and went 7 for 21 against the River Hawks. Devon Savage went 3 for 9.
“Dev had a 6-1 guy closing out on him tonight,” Gallo said. “That’s different than the 6-8 closing on him at Butler. It’s a completely different shot when you actually start to play humans who look like you.
“I like the direction we’re going in. I see them every day.”
The Warriors will stay on the road this week. Tomorrow (Tuesday), they’ll fly to Alabama to play in the Trojan Turkey Tipoff. The Warriors will play UTSA on Wednesday afternoon and Troy on Friday afternoon.
The following week, the Warriors will travel to Western New York for their first two MAAC games against Canisius and Niagara. Then, after a home game against BU, they’ll fly to California to play Stanford and Saint Mary’s.
“With all the travel, we’ll watch how we practice,” Gallo said. “We still go hard, but just not very long. We’ll get them in the training room and go with ice baths and just keeping everyone hydrated.
“This travel has been our life for the last six years. I don’t see my wife in the month of November. We also haven’t lost a game in February the last two years. We’re the only team in the country that hasn’t lost a game in February the last two years, so we’ve been through this and I know it will get us ready.”
