Merrimack breaks skid, keeps postseason hopes alive with win over Quinnipiac

By Ray Curren (@rjcurren.bsky.social)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Conference losing streaks are not something Joe Gallo and Merrimack want to get used to.

After finishing 25-7 in the NEC the last two seasons and losing consecutive games just once in that span, the Warriors came into Sunday’s game against MAAC-leading Quinnipiac having lost four of their last five, and—although it probably won’t affect its seeding for the MAAC Tournament—in relatively desperate need of a confidence builder.

For those that believe in things like momentum, Merrimack got one Sunday, dominating the second half in a 73-63 win on senior day at Lawler Arena that showed the Warriors are still among the contenders for the MAAC title.

Gallo was particularly angry at his team’s performance Friday in an 83-78 loss at home to Rider. The Broncs put up 1.28 points per possession by jamming the ball inside the Merrimack zone, attempting just 13 three-pointers.

As it normally is, it was Budd Clark leading the way Sunday, as he picked up four steals in the first four minutes of the game. But he also got a nasty gash over his eye while going for a loose ball that needed stitches and saw him miss 10 minutes of game action. A minute after he returned, he took a knee to the head and missed the rest of the first half.

For losing someone who is among the nation leaders in minutes played, Merrimack survived, leading 30-27 at the break. Gallo praised Malik Edmead for running the show in Budd’s absence, and when Clark came back, he added two more steals in the first minute of the second half.

“We needed that in the worst way,” Gallo said. “We’ve had a tough stretch with a couple of close losses. I wasn’t particularly happy with our effort against Rider. The score was close, but that wasn’t a Merrimack team that I know. Sometimes it’s good to have a little reset when you get down the stretch with the conference tournament coming up.”

“We got their attention yesterday in practice. It was a completely different group. We know how good Budd Clark is offensively, but when he’s changing the game defensively like he was today, we’re so much better.”

In all, Clark finished with 20 points and a career-high eight steals in just 26 minutes. He also took another step toward MAAC Player of the Year as his primary competition, Quinnipiac’s Amarri Monroe, finished just 1-for-11 from the field and scored just six points (although he did have 16 rebounds).

After shooting just 1-for-7 from behind the arc in the first half, Merrimack was 6-for-14 after the break, and that may be what it needs more than anything else in Atlantic City if it wants to win the MAAC in its first season in the league. On Sunday, Devon Savage and Sean Trumper hit massive shots in the final minutes, and a lot of that will fall on Savage and Matt Becht, although Clark did hit one (and Trumper obviously as well), and if he can do that when opponents play off him, look out.

“I think we just needed a couple of those shots to go in down the stretch,” Gallo said. “I think this program for nine years has defended and had great point guard play, and we pride ourselves on closing out games. Unfortunately, in some of our one-possession games, we’ve had some balls go halfway down and out. We had some great drive and kicks, but we have to make the open shots when we need them. Hopefully those shots will give us confidence.”

Thanks to the Rider debacle, Quinnipiac took over the MAAC lead in defensive efficiency, but Merrimack grabbed it back by holding the Bobcats to just 0.91 points per possession, mostly by forcing 21 turnovers. In the first meeting between the two teams, Quinnipiac rebounded more than 50 percent of its misses, but got 35.7 percent Sunday, not great for Merrimack (they are currently third-worst nationally, allowing 38.7 percent), but probably acceptable against a really good offensive rebounding team like the Bobcats.

“Quinnipiac teams going back 20 years now are great on the offensive glass, so we knew we’d be at a negative there, but holding them to just 10 offensive rebounds, I thought was excellent,” Gallo said. “We make it up by turning them over and scoring at the other end. To take 11 more field goals in the game than them, I will take that every time.”

Even after the losing streak, Merrimack has a chance at the No. 2 seed for the MAAC Tournament if it beats Marist in the regular season finale on Thursday and the Red Foxes lose at Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday. And although everything will be new to the Warriors in Atlantic City, they have just as good a chance as anyone else to be standing with the trophy after the MAAC final.

Otieno’s strong day can’t alleviate Quinnipiac’s struggles in loss at Merrimack

Paul Otieno’s 20 points and 11 rebounds were not enough for Quinnipiac as Bobcats fell to Merrimack Sunday. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — After winning four straight games, including multiple from behind, Quinnipiac’s own personal kryptonite struck again. And this time, a comeback wasn’t able to heal it. 

“It was one of those games where we just did not bring it early on,” Quinnipiac head coach Tom Pecora said following the team’s 73-63 loss to Merrimack Sunday afternoon. “Obviously, we turned the ball over. I talked to our veterans about that, that just can’t be the way it is. We’re too seasoned a team to play like that.”

The 21 turnovers were a glaring error. It’s fixable, as Merrimack’s 2-3 zone defense forced the Bobcats into a number of tricky offensive possessions. It’s the three-point shooting, where Pecora’s squad shot just 5-for-19 from deep, that has been the lingering thorn in Quinnipiac’s side.

“We have shot makers. (Doug Young’s) a decent shooter. (Ryan Mabrey’s) a decent shooter,” Pecora said. “They came in. They got their chance off the bench and didn’t make their shots. I think Khaden (Bennett) shot 1-for-7, and we got decent looks. They weren’t the worst looks in the world. So, I mean, it’s an opportunity for us to make shots.”

The Warriors—led by sophomore guard Budd Clark—rode a dominating second half en route to a key win in the MAAC standings, one that could have drastic implications on the conference tournament in one week. 

“Budd’s a great little player,” Pecora said. “He’s a tough little guard, he controls tempo. Obviously, he can get you on his hip and he gets the spots on the floor, you know? He can get buckets and he's unselfish. That’s even more of a challenge because you can’t run a second defender at him.”

While Clark dealt with a number of injuries during the game (he left for a bit with a cut to the face, before getting banged up in a collision with Young), his 20 points led Merrimack, while his eight steals was enough to clutter up any of the Bobcats’ chances on offense.

The guard play from the Bobcats was an issue. Finding passing lanes—usually the bread and butter of graduate guard Savion Lewis—was a struggle. Trying to crack the zone defense, or defenses, as Pecora alluded to postgame, is what caved the visitors in. 

For the front court, the team’s best players, graduate student Paul Otieno and junior Amarri Monroe, had two drastically different games. While both of them rebounded the ball at a high clip (they combined for 27 boards on the day), Otieno scored a team-best 20 points and added 11 rebounds, while Monroe shot just 1-for-11 from the field. Merrimack’s defense stifled Monroe, who had a season-high five turnovers.

“Right out of the gate, we had seven turnovers,” Pecora said. “This is not a team pressing. I’m tough on veteran captains and especially veteran guards. I thought Paul did a great job against the zone. You know, once again, rebounding numbers, Paul and Amarri had every rebound except seven for us.”

The lone positive that arrived out of the loss is that the Bobcats still control their own destiny for the MAAC regular season title. With Marist dropping its second straight game—this one a 57-52 loss to Saint Peter’s—Quinnipiac is still on track to win the trophy if the next two games fall in the Bobcats’ favor. 

So with three days in between today’s loss and Thursday’s home date against Mount St. Mary’s, the Bobcats will hope to get more from their bench that can help alleviate some scoring struggles.

“We gotta get more from our entire cast,” Pecora admitted.

Winthrop sends out its seniors with a win over rival Asheville

Winthrop forward K.J. Doucet booked a Winthrop career-high 30 points in Saturday's Senior Day win over Asheville. (Photo:  Winthrop Athletics/Professional Photography Group)

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – There’s never a dull moment when Winthrop and Asheville square off. Asheville coach Mike Morrell quickly – and correctly – assessed after the game the intensity of the rivalry between the schools.

After the first round between the Eagles and Bulldogs went to Asheville in Asheville’s Kimmel Arena, Winthrop took the floor in its home arena looking for its getback, all while honoring its six seniors that played a significant role in Winthrop’s success. The game had no effect on the bracket – Asheville had already clinched the second seed in the Big South tournament next week – but it had all the drama one would expect from the rivalry.

Winthrop got a career-high 30 points from K.J. Doucet and placed four scorers in double figures, trailing just twice in a 103-90 victory before an announced crowd of 3,085 in Winthrop Coliseum Saturday afternoon.

“I think anytime you put on a uniform at this level, you have to honor that, and it just so happened that it happened to be (against) Winthrop,” Morrell said after the game. “I thought Winthrop was terrific today and I thought exactly what we tried to do for our group last Saturday, which was to honor them on Senior Day.”

“In some ways, you’re playing for nothing. In some ways, you’re playing to play. We played better today than we did earlier this week (a 64-59 home loss to Presbyterian), so that’s growth.”

Winthrop (21-10, 11-5 Big South) seized the lead early, continuing off the momentum it had in Thursday night’s nationally-televised win over Longwood. The Eagles answered an early 5-3 Asheville advantage by tearing off an 18-5 burst to grab an 11-point lead at 21-10 after a Bryce Baker three. The Eagles stretched their lead to 16 at one point, tallying 36 points in the first 11-plus minutes of the game.

“If you look back at all the teams that have had to do the Thursday-Saturday ESPNU wildcard game, I don’t know that anybody’s won both,” Winthrop coach Mark Prossser said after the game. “I know other teams have to travel more than we do, so I’m not complaining. It’s the longest trip of the year and it is what it is.”

“For us to get back at 2:00 am (Friday) and be locked in yesterday in scout, then to be able to do what we did just to keep up, it would have been easy for us to hit the wall.”

That 16-point lead was again in place after Nick Johnson hit a pair of free throws to put Winthrop ahead, 44-28, with 3:42 left in the first half. Asheville (20-10, 11-5) then snapped off an 11-0 spurt that snipped the Eagle lead to five. Winthrop answered with a pair of buckets from Doucet and Kelton Talford to jump the margin back to nine. The Eagles took a seven-point advantage to the locker room after Jordan Marsh hit a half-court try just before the horn.

Winthrop led by 12 just over seven minutes into the period before Asheville again punched back out of its corner. Marsh stuck a jumper. Toyaz Solomon converted a layup. Kam Taylor splashed a three. Solomon scored again – this time on a dunk. Taylor added a dunk of his own. Solomon then converted a layup. When the dust settled, the 13-2 Asheville run brought the Bulldogs within one.

Doucet responded on the other end, landed what might have been the staggering blow.

The senior from Austell, Ga., grabbed a pass from fellow senior Kasen Harrison and canned a triple to put Winthrop ahead, 75-71. Prosser requested a stoppage, and after an Asheville turnover on the next trip down the floor, Harrison made a layup on the other end. The sequence largely put the game away for the Eagles, as Asheville never again drew closer than a two-possession deficit.

“I thought the three (Doucet) made was one of the most cold-blooded threes I’ve seen in a long time,” Prosser said. “It’s just such a momentum drain when you cut it to one possession and bang, you go right back down by five. It was a huge shot in that game.”

“Today, I just wanted to see them compete,” Morrell said. “I just did not like how – and again, I say this with all due respect to PC, because I think PC took us there – I did not like how we honored winning and honored what goes into winning. Even though we lost today, I think we honored what goes into winning.”

“If you’re going to try to put together three games in three days, that’s the only chance you have, because adversity’s coming for you. The adversity today was the fact that (Winthrop) brought what they shot in Virginia with them on the bus and hit nine threes in the first half. I think this will be the toughest Big South tournament that I’ve been in in seven years. You can literally say that any team (could win it) and I’d say I could see that.”

Doucet scored 30 on the day, eclipsing his prior career-best of 28 against Charleston Southern during the 2023-24 season. The senior canned all 11 free throw tries and hit 8-of-14 from the deck (3-of-6 from distance).

“I had the most fun with my guys tonight,” Doucet said. “It was the last home game for me. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. We were just trying to make key plays at the end. I think we did that and I did that. I thank my teammates for putting me in position to do that.”

Johnson tallied 18, hitting 6-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-4 from three. Bryce Baker added 13 off the bench while Talford added 14 and boarded seven misses. The native of nearby Great Falls, S.C., was honored along with his fellow seniors with a rousing ovation before his final game in the Coliseum. As the teams shook hands, Morrell shared a moment with Talford in a show of respect.

“I don’t know Kelton personally, but I pulled him aside (after the game),” Morrell said. “I’ve not respected a player more in this league than him in my seven years and he is – if I could choose any one player to pull off another team and put him on mine, it’d be him. He’s been a problem for a long time, even when he was playing for Pat (Kelsey) as a freshman.”

Winthrop shot 54.8 percent (34-for-62) from the boards, with 12-of-22 triples (54.5 percent) finding the net. The Eagles hit 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) from the charity stripe on the day.

Winthrop’s six seniors – Harrison, Talford, Doucet, Johnson, Tommy Kamarad, and Ryan Jolly – left the floor as winners. Last year’s Senior Day ended in a loss for the Eagles, which stuck with Prosser.

“The way last Senior Day went, I haven’t forgotten that. Those kids deserved better,” Prosser said. “(This group) deserved to leave here as winners. I’m happy for them. I’m proud of their teammates for helping afford them that opportunity.”

Marsh led Asheville with 27 points, connecting on 11 of his 21 field goal attempts. Solomon added 20 on a 9-for-11 effort. Josh Banks added 17, while freshman Kam Taylor added 17 on a 7-for-10 day with multiple highlight-reel dunks.

“He’s the best freshman we’ve had here,” Morrell said of Taylor. “That being said, he had some freshman-like mistakes on defense. I coach him really hard and he’s way better than we thought he was going to be. He was terrific today. When he makes shots, he’s a really tough close-out, because he’s going to get to the rim. He’s very strong. I was very proud of Kam.”

The teams next take the floor in the Big South tournament quarterfinals. Though the teams tied during the regular season, Asheville earned the second seed by virtue of having beaten top-seeded High Point during the season. The Bulldogs will square off with seventh-seeded Charleston Southern inside Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn., at 6:00 (Eastern) Friday night.

Winthrop earned the third seed and will battle sixth-seeded Longwood. The Lancers tied for fifth to close the season, but earned its seed by virtue of Presbyterian having swept Longwood during regular-season play. The Eagles and Lancers are set to tip off at approximately 8:30 Friday night. ESPN+ will have streaming coverage of both contests.

WINTHROP 103, ASHEVILLE 90

ASHEVILLE (20-10, 11-5 BIG SOUTH)

Solomon 9-11 2-3 20, Gantt 0-0 0-0 0, Marsh 11-21 2-5 27, Banks 6-11 1-2 17, Abee 2-5 0-0 6, Taylor 7-10 1-1 17, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Dubsky 1-5 0-0 3, Clarke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-63 6-11 90.

WINTHROP (21-10, 11-5)

Talford 5-9 4-5 14, Doucet 8-14 11-11 30, Kamarad 2-2 0-0 4, Johnson 6-14 4-7 18, Harrison 5-7 1-3 12, Wilson 1-2 0-0 3, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Baker 4-8 1-2 13, Duncomb 2-3 0-0 4, Jolly 1-1 2-2 5, Diallo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-62 23-30 103.

Halftime:  Winthrop 51-44. 3-Point goals:  Winthrop 12-22 (Doucey 3-6, Johnson 2-4, Harrison 1-1, Wilson 1-1, Jones 0-2, Baker 4-7, Jolly 1-1), Asheville 12-31 (Marsh 3-9, Banks 4-9, Abee 2-5, Taylor 2-3, Dubsky 1-5). Fouled out:  Johnson (WU).  Rebounds: Winthrop 37 (Talford/Doucet 7), Asheville 25 (Marsh 5). Total fouls:  Asheville 21, Winthrop 15. Technicals:  Banks (AVL).

Points off turnovers:  Winthrop 22, Asheville 19.  Points in the paint:  Asheville 46, Winthrop 44. Second-chance points:  Asheville 18, Winthrop 15.  Fast-break points:  Winthrop 19, Asheville 14.  Bench points:  Winthrop 25, Asheville 20.

Sha Sounds Off: St. John’s

On what went wrong for Seton Hall:

“Yeah, I think foul shooting and they manned us on the boards. I thought we had a good game plan, I thought we came out, I thought we executed. Obviously, they’re a good team, obviously (Rick Pitino is) a great coach, but I thought we shot ourselves in the foot once again with free throws and not rebounding the basketball.”

On Seton Hall’s defensive effort:

“I thought we’ve been defending well the last couple games. I wasn’t really worried about our defense this game, I was worried about our mental and I thought a good portion of the game, we were right there. We made some mistakes, which was cool. I told them, if you’re gonna make some mistakes, make some aggressive mistakes, but I don’t like the way we got manned on the boards. They had 14 offensive rebounds that led to some points, and those rebounds—plus us missing foul shots—were the difference in the game.”

On Seton Hall’s recent effort:

“I’m not satisfied at all. I mean, we lost, we’re losing. How you gonna be satisfied? I think, I just told the guys on the radio, the difference is when Scotty and Dylan and Chaunce are out for four or five games, and you have Jahseem, Garwey and Isaiah playing 40 minutes, it’s a big difference having those other two guys back. That’s why we’re playing better, that’s why we’re giving ourselves a chance. Obviously, you guys are gonna look at it in your way, I look at it like this and this is gonna come off sounding really crazy, but we never really had a full roster where the guys could play together. Somebody’s always out for one or two games, three games and can’t practice, so when we finally get a chance to practice a little bit and play together, this is kind of the result. You give yourself a chance to be in the game. I’m upset that we didn’t have a chance to really gel like we could have, and I think we could have had a better season than we’re having right now.”

On his message to the team before the Big East tournament:

“I think right now, Adam, to tell you the truth, the main concern is making sure we take care of Tuesday for our seniors. It’s senior day, I want to make sure those guys go out on a high, obviously against a good Creighton team. We’re playing better, but we still gotta do the little things, right? You gotta make sure you still get a good shot when you’re supposed to get a good shot, and the guy who’s supposed to take the shot takes the shot. But I’m disappointed in some of these guys today, man. I told the guys, when you get a chance to play in this building, on national TV, you gotta come out and bring it. And we’ve got some guys that didn’t bring it today, and I’m a little disappointed in that. But for the most part, we battled, we gave ourselves a chance. There’s a reason why (St. John’s is) the best team in our league.”

On what St. John’s can do in March:

“I don’t want to speak for other teams, but they’re a really good team. They’ve got veteran guards, and when you’ve got good guard play, you’re always gonna be in the game. They’ve got two really good guards. I’m not really sure what happened to the kid (Aaron) Scott, but he’s a good basketball player, too. And obviously, nobody talks about RJ Luis. He’s, to me, he should be Big East Player of the Year and it ain’t even close. And I’m not knocking anybody else on their team, because obviously Kadary’s great. He was great for me, he’s great for them. But I think what (Luis) brings to their team is how they win games. And he did it today.”

On Godswill Erheriene against Zuby Ejiofor:

“I thought early on, he did (hold his own). I thought once he got tired, he’s a freshman, right? He kind of got worn down a bit but for the most part, he battled and I thought both bigs battled. I thought Manny battled as well, too. A good takeaway: I thought having 17 assists was pretty good for us, but then you get manned on the boards and those 17 assists just go down the drain.”

On Dylan Addae-Wusu and free throws:

“Yeah, I thought Dylan did what Dylan does. He gave us toughness, he made some shots, he made some plays. I put the ball in his hands more today because of the way (St. John’s) was playing defense, I wanted to make sure we drove the basketball. I thought we did, but yeah, the free throws killed us, man. And we practice it more than anybody, right? The last game we lost, I forgot who it was, the next day, we did nothing but shoot free throws. We didn’t do nothing else. Yesterday, we shot free throws. This goes back to the beginning of the year. We weren’t shooting free throws well in the course of some games, then during Big East play, we start shooting the ball very well from the free throw line. Now we’re resorting back to I don’t know what’s going on. It’s at a bad time. I wish I could tell you what’s going on. I don’t know.”

On Chaunce Jenkins:

“It’s tough, J. It’s tough, man. I kind of leave that stuff to the trainers and doctors. He hasn’t been doing nothing, so with that being said, I don’t know if he could do anything because he hasn’t been doing nothing. I know he’s seeing another doctor on Monday and they’re gonna determine something there, but I can’t really tell you too much.”

On any words with Rick Pitino:

“I told him good luck in the (Big East) tournament, he said the same thing, good luck in the tournament. They had a phenomenal year. Obviously he’s a great coach, did a great job, and I like I said: When you’ve got good guard play, you’re gonna be really good, and they’ve got great guard play.”

On Tuesday’s senior night honorees:

“Dylan, Yacine and Chaunce.”

On St. John’s and its resurgence:

“Come on, J! I can’t speak on other teams! Listen, I think St. John’s, Seton Hall, when local teams do well, it helps the Big East. Obviously we’re not doing well, they’re doing well, I’m happy for them, but we ain’t jumping off the bridge, man. We ain’t doing that. They’re having a good year, obviously I root for them once they’re in the (NCAA) Tournament, I always root for Big East teams. Right now, I’m trying to beat them, you understand what I’m saying? That’s kind of what it is.”

Reed flips switch as career day leads UConn over Providence

Tarris Reed, Jr. dominated Saturday, delivering 24 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks, all career highs as UConn defeated Providence. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When Samson Johnson picked up his first personal foul just 53 seconds into UConn’s 75-63 win over Providence, in trotted backup big man Tarris Reed, Jr.

It was such a simple move that we’ve seen in every Huskies game, so nobody thought much of it. Little was it known that this was the start of a career day and one of the best single game performances from a UConn player all season.

“The light bulb is coming on right now,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “He’s the nicest guy in the absolute world, but when the game starts, you need to be a killer and a relentless killer. You need to be turned into that.”

Reed looked like that relentless killer Saturday against the Friars. He finished with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks. Right from the moment he checked in, he made an impact on both ends of the ball. The Michigan transfer set a new career high in all three stat categories, a feat that is rarely seen in a single game in college basketball.

“It’s been tough at times mentally, just pushing through,” Reed said. “I get my confidence from the Lord. He helps me play as hard as I can.”

For a majority of the season, Reed and Johnson have split the duties at the center position, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday and hasn’t been for the past couple of weeks. Reed has played 27 minutes or more in three of the past four games, including 32 minutes against Providence. Hurley has said that managing minutes is the easiest thing he does as a coach, playing the players that are playing well more minutes. 

“We’re a much different team when we get that level of play at the center spot,” Hurley said. 

This career performance is a bit relieving for Hurley and the staff, as it shows Reed’s improvement over the past few months into the player he’s becoming. Hurley has joked that he needs his big man to play more like a ferocious bear, which has been picked up by UConn fans sending him bear pictures on social media to give him confidence. 

“Coach always says I have to be ferocious on the court,” Reed said. “I feel like with crashing the offensive glass, that’s where I can get a lot of my points, crashing as hard as I can and overall just putting my body on the line for the team.”

And crash the glass he did with five offensive rebounds, giving the Huskies opportunities to score with second-chance shots. Reed scored his first four points of the game on dunks, and from there, he could feel he was going to have a big day.

“I got a transition dunk and then after that I was like, ‘alright, I’m hot,’” he said. 

It’s safe to say the Friars didn’t expect a performance like this from the UConn reserve. Providence coach Kim English probably could have guessed that Alex Karaban (17 points), Liam McNeeley (14) and Solo Ball (14) would be impactful, but he was impressed by the poise of Reed down low, comparing him to another star big in the Big East.

“Tarris Reed was amazing,” English said. “To see the force he had going to the backboard was impressive. He was relentless and looked like Zuby Ejiofor out there.”

An underrated part of his day was the six blocks, split evenly with three in the first half and three in the second. Even though the Huskies are near the top of the country in blocks per game, not having a presence the likes of Donovan Clingan inside has made teams more confident in driving to the rim. If Reed can continue to be a force on defense, even if not contributing six blocks a night, the ceiling rises even more for the team.

“There’s something about him where his energy level has risen and you’re not having to take him out of the game a minute or two after he checks in,” Hurley said.

Hurley is going to need this version of Reed over the final week of the regular season and the week after at Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament if the Huskies are going to have any postseason success. Their next test is on Wednesday in Storrs, as Marquette comes to town for a game that will all but decide third place in the conference. Tip is set for 8:30 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.