VCU beats Merrimack 63-42 as Warriors struggle from 3-point range
On Wednesday night, Merrimack was limited to just 1 of 19 shooting from 3-point range against VCU, and the Rams beat the Warriors 63-42.
Budd Clark led the Warriors with 19 points.
"I was really with the way we kept scrapping in the second half,” said Merrimack coach Joe Gallo. “We had control of the tempo early, we were defending just not making shots. It got away from us a bit midway through the first half. It's a really tough place to play. I didn't want to scare our team with the numbers, but over the last 10 years this team wins about 95 percent of their games in this building. It's a good learning experience for us. It's the first time a lot of guys on this roster have been in a game like that. It's the first time as a collective group we've been in a game like that."
Sean Trumper had 16 points for the Warriors and tied with Bryan Etumnu for the team lead with five rebounds. Trumper muscled his way to the paint numerous times and drew six fouls. He also had two steals.
"In the second half, he was an absolute beast,” Gallo said. “I don't think we took him out. He was playing so hard, and we needed someone out there fighting for us. He took it to them and took 13 free throws. His physicality was hurting them. He was getting drives. We have to find a way, and that's on me, to get him more involved earlier in the game offensively. It took him about 20-25 minutes to really get going. I can do a better job of calling his number a bit and getting him some stuff to the basket that can help everyone else out."
Joe Bamisile had 20 points to lead the Rams. Phillip Russel had 18 points.
The Warriors trailed by 21 points at halftime (38-17) but played an even second half (25-25).
“At halftime, we reset the score, and we said we wanted to keep scrapping,” Gallo said. “We only gave up 63 points in about 70 possessions, which is the lowest a team has held them this year. It will be one of the lower offensive outputs for them all year, I think. We just needed to find better ways to score the basketball."
The Warriors were limited to 28 percent from the field (12 for 43) but limited VCU to 38 percent. The Rams entered the game shooting 48 percent in wins over Boston College and Bellarmine.
The Warriors will host Princeton on Sunday at Lawler Arena. The Tigers are 3-0 and will host Loyola Chicago on Friday night. Tip-off on Sunday is set for 1 p.m.
