boxscore

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Junior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) netted 19 points, and junior guard Derrick Corbett (New Haven, Conn.) joined him in double figures with 12 points, but the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team fell to Merrimack by a score of 61-57 at Volpe Gymnasium in North Andover, Mass. on Thursday night. With the loss, the Owls fell to 6-12 overall and 2-11 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Warriors from Merrimack improved to 12-7 overall and 7-7 in conference play.

Neither team was able to establish a clear advantage in the first half. The largest run came from Merrimack; a 12-0 burst over a 5:06 span to give the Warriors a 29-21 lead. Southern Connecticut battled back, cutting the deficit to five points by the intermission, and the Owls entered the break trailing by a score of 36-11. Bell led the Owls offense in first half with 11 points and Corbett added seven. Guard Darren Duncan led all scorers with 12 points.

Southern Connecticut began the second half on a 9-2 over the opening 5:33 to take the lead at 40-38. The game remained tight the rest of the way, and overall the contest contained 11 ties and 15 lead changes. The final lead change came when 52 seconds remaining and the score knotted at 57-57. Duncan drove into the lane and floated a jumper over an Owls' defender to give Merrimack the decisive lead. The Warriors tacked on a pair of free throws to claim a 61-57 victory.

The 61 points scored by Merrimack was the fewest surrendered by the Owls defense this season. The home team sank only 5 of 23 field goals in the second half, but the Warriors' 15-for-24 shooting performance from the free throw line in the final stanza was enough to propel them to victory.

Four players finished tied for the game-high of seven rebounds: Corbett, senior forward Devon Sullivan (Jamaica, N.Y.) and Merrimack's Micky Burtnyk and Olatungie Lightfoot-Taylor. Duncan outdueled Bell by one point to claim the game-high with 20. Burtnyk was also the leading assist man on the evening with four. Bell and freshman guard Lance Long (New Haven, Conn.) paced the Owls in assists with two apiece.

The Owls return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 26, as they head home to New Haven to challenge the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen in a Northeast-10 Conference clash. The action tips off from Moore Fieldhouse at 3:30 p.m. All of the action will be broadcast live on the radio at 1590 AM and via the Internet at www.wsinradio.org.