Merrimack's defense shines in win over UMass Lowell

NORTH ANDOVER — Merrimack’s defense proved its mettle on Saturday night.

The Warriors held UMass Lowell, one of the best shooting teams in the nation, in check and grinded out a 74-68 victory at Lawler Arena.

UMass Lowell (5-2) suffered only its second loss. The River Hawks beat Georgia Tech earlier this season and were in position to beat Arizona State late before falling apart down the stretch.

“They made a bunch of tough twos, which we wanted them to take early on,” Merrimack coach Joe Gallo said. “We settled in defensively. It started with our defense. This is a great win. That’s a really good team that beat Georgia Tech on the road and had Arizona State on the ropes. Great win. It’s pretty cool to have, what’s becoming now, two really good Division I programs about 15 miles apart. This will be a good rivalry for years to come.”

The Warriors held Lowell’s Ayinde Hikim, who had been averaging 21 points per game, to just 12 points on 5 for 12 shooting.

Jordan Derkack led the Warriors and scored a career-high 33 points. Derkack was 9 for 15 from the floor and went 14 for 17 at the free-throw line.

“I didn’t even realize he had 33 points until I looked at the box score,” Gallo said. “He is a tough guard for anyone. Not just in our league.”

The Warriors rebounded after a heartbreaking loss at Georgetown on Wednesday night. The Warriors were the victims of some questionable foul calls down the stretch in that Georgetown game and still had three prime chances to tie the game with layups in the final seconds but couldn’t get it to fall.

“We almost had it, and that could be a letdown tonight,” Gallo said. “But this is a great group, a resilient group. We had an unbelievable practice yesterday. We’ve been grinding since we got back from that Alabama trip.”

The Warriors forced 17 turnovers and scored 12 points off of those. Budd Clark led the team with four steals, and Derkack and Samba Diallo each had three.

NOTES: Jacob O’Connell led the Warriors with seven rebounds. … Merrimack’s largest lead was 12 points (63-51), which came with 4:36 left in the game.

NEXT: The Warriors are back on the road Tuesday night when they take on Florida at 7 p.m.

Merrimack 74, UMass Lowell 68
at Lawler Arena
UMass Lowell (5-2):  28-40—68
Merrimack    (4-5):  32-42—74
UML (68): Brooks 9-0-18, Hikim 5-1-12, O’Connor 2-6-10, Covington 4-0-9, Morris III 2-0-4, Mincey 3-4-11, Lino 1-2-4, Fulgencio 0-0-0, Maxwell 0-0-0; Totals 26-13-68.
Merrimack (74): Derkack 9-14-33, Savage 4-2-12, Diallo 2-4-9, Etumnu 2-1-5, Clark 1-2-4, O’Connell 3=1-8, Stinson 1-0-3, McKoy 0-0-0, Plintauskas 0-0-0; Totals 22-24-74.
Three-Pointers: MC — Savage 2, Derkack, Diallo, O’Connell, Stinson; UML Hikim, Covington, Mincey
Attendance: 2,347