Maine holds off Merrimack in final seconds to win 50-47

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The Merrimack College Warriors were looking to pick up their first division one win of this season on Sunday afternoon when they hosted the Maine Black Bears. Both teams came into this game off of wins vs non-division one squads. For the Black Bears, they defeated UMaine-Augusta on Wednesday night. Merrimack was a winner on Friday night against Western New England. The win by Maine snapped a three-game losing streak in which they lost by a combined 13 points in those contests.

The opening four minutes saw a couple of ties and three lead changes. The Warriors inside duo of Jordan Minor and Ziggy Reid accounted for the scoring with Reid having four and Minor the same. Merrimack was also getting after it on the defensive end with an aggressive style that was blocking shots and ball-hawking. The Maine offense was coming from Kellen Tynes with four points and four off the bench from Peter Filipovity. At the 11:43 mark, the game was tied for the fourth time in the first nine minutes at 10-10. The Warriors’ inside game was starting to produce wide-open looks. Mykel Derring twice from deep and Devon Savage from the right corner from 3-point land opened up a 21-12 lead for Merrimack and forced Maine head coach Chris Markwood to call time. What kept the Black Bears in the first half was the scoring off the bench from Filipovity who had nine points off the bench in eleven minutes. Those points would offset the combined 17 from Minor and Reid for Merrimack. At the half, the Warriors held a 26-23 lead.

The second half started for the Warriors with Minor and Reid picking up where they left off. Each scored inside baskets to push the lead to seven at 30-23. Maine responded with four of their own to cut the lead to 30-27. As the half reached the midway point, both teams went through a dry spell shooting the ball. With 11:43 to play Merrimack held a 32-29 lead. Maine’s defense would get them the lead back as they forced two consecutive turnovers that were converted into baskets. The first was by Gedi Juozapaitis then the second one by Tynes. Maine had a 35-32 lead with 9:52 to play. The sloppy offense by Merrimack forced coach Gallo to call time and regroup. Maine was able to extend their lead based on production from the backcourt with Tynes and Ja’Shonte Wright-Mcleish starting to knock down shots. Wright-Mcleish with five points on a jumper in the lane then a straightaway three-pointer. Tynes with a couple of jumpers and it was 46-39 Maine with 4:05 left.

Merrimack went on a 6-2 run to make it a three-point game with 1:20 to play. Minor and Reid did the dirty work in the paint and they got help from Jordan Derkack who hit a short jumper. The lead was now five for Maine at 48-45 with 1:29 to go. Each team scored in the final minute to maintain the one-possession game. Merrimack had two chances to get closer. Reid missed a three-pointer and Minor missed the follow after the ball went out of bounds off of Maine. Merrimack had one more chance to tie the game with 9.2 seconds left. Coach Gallo called time to set up the last play. The ball was swung to Derring whose three-point shot from the left wing was off the mark. Maine held on for a 50-47 win on the road. Maine is now 6-4, and Merrimack falls to 2-11.

Jordan Minor (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Ziggy Reid (13 points, six rebounds) combined for 32 of Merrimack’s 47 total. Kellen Tynes had 12 points, Peter Filipovity got 11 off the bench, and Gedi Juozapaitis had 10 points. Maine would win this game despite shooting just 6.3% from three (1-for-16). They made up for it by shooting 92% from the foul line 11-of-12. Merrimack was not much better from deep shooting 19% 4-of 21. The Warriors go on the road heading to Bucknell on Sunday afternoon December 18.