Merrimack College Gets the Win, 55-45 Over Lehigh

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It was a rough Wednesday night at West Point when the Merrimack College Warriors (3-2) never found a rhythm and suffered a loss to Army because of it. They returned home on Friday night to play a basketball game for the first time inside Lawler Rink. They would face another team from the Patriot League, the Lehigh Engineers (0-3) who were looking for their first win of the young season. The good news about the first game inside Lawler is a sold-out crowd was on hand to see it.

The energy inside the rink was very high but too bad the first half took a while for both teams to warm up to. Lehigh began the game on a 6-0 run scoring most of their points in the paint. In fact, six of the first eight Engineer points were scored near the basket. Most of the inside damage was done by Jeameril Wilson who consistently got to the rim and scored. He would finish the half with 12 points. He was the only player from either team that reached double figures. Merrimack struggled from the floor in the first twenty minutes shooting only 32% (9-28) and from 3-point land not much better at (3-11) 27%. What kept them in the first half was buckets from Mykel Derring who knocked down two three’s and Mikey Watson who scored the last four points of the half for the Warriors to create a 22-22 standoff heading to the locker room.

The Warriors found their shooting legs early in the second half. A 5-0 run on a Malik Edmead layup and a Devin Jensen three-ball from the left-wing put the home team up five a 32-27 with 16:33 to play. Jensen dropped another deep three from the right-wing to give Merrimack their biggest lead at 35-27. Lehigh got back into the game behind the scoring of Evan Taylor (17 points) who helped his team to get back to within two at 37-35 with twelve minutes to go. The Warriors put another mini-run together behind a Watkins layup and an Edmeade three 43-37 10:14 left in the game.

As much as shooting got the Warriors back into the game, it was also stopping them from extending their lead. Though they were much better in the second half, 57% from three-point land (4-7) and 39 % 11-28 from the field. Edmead was really the only Merrimack player to have any sort of a hot hand. Watkins’ steal and driving layup with a minute to play gave Merrimack a 52-45 lead which had the sold-out rink in a party mood. The defense stepped up for the Warriors as Reid got a big-time block at the rim with 42 seconds left. It was one of 11 blocked shots for the game by Merrimack to go along with 10 steals. Lehigh had a rough second half shooting the ball, (7-24 29%) and from distance (3-8, 37%). Foul shots sealed the win for the Warriors by ten 55-45
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After the game, Coach Joe Gallo was pleased with his team’s effort, especially after the tough night at West Point where he thought his team “played bad offense.” Tonight he mentioned “guard play was huge” and indeed it was as both backcourt mates finished in double figures. Watkins had 10 points, seven assists, and Edmeade had 15 points with most coming in the second half. The coach was really pleased with only six turnovers committed. All in all, it was a good first night of hoops at Lawler Rink.