Merrimack notebook: Warriors look to rebound from Iona loss entering rematch with Saint Peter’s

Kevair Kennedy led Merrimack with 23 points against Iona and appears to be cementing himself as MAAC Player of the Year favorite. (Photo by Merrimack College Athletics)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Merrimack had one foot out the Hynes Athletic Center doors with a hard-fought road win, until Ernest Shelton missed a 1-and-1 and Toby Harris made the Warriors pay with a last-second three that gave Iona a much-needed home victory.

Still, there were positives for Joe Gallo’s team, which had entered Thursday tied for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference lead and now sits a half-game behind Saint Peter’s. Three in particular stand out in this postgame notebook:

Kevair Kennedy has raised his game as the year has gone on. With a winning pedigree from his time at Father Judge High School, where he led his team to a prestigious Philadelphia Catholic League championship, the 6-foot-5 Kennedy already had a fair share of hype when he arrived in New England this summer. And in a program that has churned out point guards the likes of Juvaris Hayes, Javon Bennett, Jordan Derkack and Budd Clark this decade, the freshman may be exceeding the established standard.

Kennedy led Merrimack with 23 points and eight rebounds Thursday, and is starting to separate himself from the rest of the pack as he bids to become the first men’s basketball freshman to win MAAC Player of the Year honors. The conference crowned its first-ever rookie player of the year on the women’s side last March when Gal Raviv brought home the honor at Quinnipiac.

“He’s been awesome,” Gallo said of Kennedy. “And with the minutes he’s played, he’s basically a sophomore at this point. He got us back in it, had some great drives to the basket and finished. But we just had to get one more stop and unfortunately, we couldn’t get it.”

Like Clark before him, Kennedy has made his downhill drive a calling card of his offensive game. Iona play-by-play announcer David Resnick asked Gallo what makes his floor general such a formidable weapon in transition, and the coach responded in kind.

“It’s a combination of size and speed,” he said. “He’s got great touch, he can finish with both hands. Guys like that are tricky because he doesn’t take a lot of threes, so you think you need to back up, but you also don’t really want a freight train coming at you if you back up. But when you get too close, that’s when he picks up a lot of fouls. He’s just a tough cover and he really willed us back in it.”

While the Warrior backcourt of Kennedy, Shelton and Tye Dorset is constant and consistent, the front line is undergoing a makeover of sorts.

Gallo has been vocal in recent weeks about finding more playing time for KC Ugwuakazi in relief of Todd Brogna at the five spot, and he followed through on that Thursday. The 6-foot-8 junior delivered, contributing 11 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes, with the latter mark tying a season-high for the East Texas A&M transfer. Gallo was again asked if Ugwuakazi’s burgeoning role would expand, answering in the affirmative.

“More and more,” he said of how often Ugwuakazi would hear his number called. “I said it to my staff before the game, I said this is why kids are so much better when they stay at the same school for a second year at least, because if you look at KC in the South Dakota State game to KC today, it’s like night and day.”

“I think people always talk about what’s new, and it’s hard to have a bunch of new guys and they have to pick up a new system. When you give a school a second year, you’re a completely different player. None of us have that luxury anymore, so you’ve gotta speed up the learning curve. It’s like the second semester is year two for these guys.”

Merrimack looks to stem the tide Saturday when it hosts Saint Peter’s in North Andover. The Peacocks made a statement in the previous meeting between the two programs, outmuscling the Warriors to the tune of a 76-63 beatdown in Jersey City on January 11. The response following that loss was positive, with commanding wins over Quinnipiac and Marist to offset the bitter taste of defeat, and the hope is that lightning can strike twice in that regard Saturday.

“Obviously, you can’t let one lead to two, lead to three,” Gallo said. “We’ll see what we’re made of. I told those guys after the first loss, we’ve had some of the best practices, the best shootarounds, the best preparation that I’ve ever coached. Don’t be frauds. Don’t let one loss take all that air out of you. We’re not frontrunners, we’ll just show up and tomorrow and do what we always do. If anything, it should pump some extra helium into you.”