BALANCED ATTACK LEADS MEN'S HOOP PAST MERRIMACK IN NE-10 TOURNAMENT
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 24, 2007) -
Magen McNeil (Philadelphia, Pa.) led five American
International College players in double figures with 18 points and
13 rebounds as the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets posted a 68-60 win
over No. 12 Merrimack in Saturday's first round of the Northeast-10
Men's Basketball Tournament. The win improves AIC to 16-12 as
it advances to faced No. 4 seed Bryant on the road Monday evening
at 7:00. The Warriors see their season come to a close at
8-20 overall.
McNeil finished 8-13 from the floor. Vernon Dupree (Wilmington, Del.) and Jenar Harrison (Queens, N.Y.) each finished with 12 points, while Aikeem Vanderhorst (Bay Shore, N.Y.) added 11 points and Jeff Dosado (Montreal, Quebec) 10 as all five starters reached double figures for the Yellow Jackets. Darren Duncan paced Merrimack with 22 points and seven assists, while Kenny Jones and Jared Brownlee added 11 points apiece.
AIC saw a 25-23 halftime lead go by the wayside when Gerry Corcoran knocked down a three with just over 17 minutes left to give Merrimack a 32-29 lead. The hosts would use a 7-0 run to take a 43-37 lead with 11:08 left on a Dupree three-pointer, but the Warriors whittled the lead down to two, 45-43, with 9:24 left. The Yellow Jackets would counter with 13 unanswered points to take a 58-43 lead with 6:21 to go on a dunk by Harrison. The Warriors would chip away at the lead and made it 62-56 with 1:16 left on a pair of free throws by Duncan, but AIC would seal the win by going 3-4 at the line and McNeil putting an exclamation point on the win with a thunderous dunk with 29 seconds left.
In a first half that saw five ties and four lead changes, Merrimack would build a 21-16 lead with 5:24 left on a Jones trifecta. American International would close out the half by outscoring the guests 9-2, with a three-pointer by Vanderhorst, his first of the season, capping the run with 1:17 before intermission and giving AIC a 25-23 lead at halftime.
AIC would shoot 54.8% (17-31) in the second half and 51.8% for the game while outrebounding Merrimack 37-36. The Warriors shot just 32.8% from the floor for the afternoon and connected on just three of their 20 three-point attempts, but stayed in the game by converting 17 of their 20 free throw opportunities. AIC was 8-13 at the charity stripe.
AIC and Bryant split a pair of meetings this
season, with the Bulldogs winning 72-68 on November 19 in
Smithfield, R.I. and the Yellow Jackets posting a 58-47 victory on
their home floor two weeks ago.