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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior forward Devon Sullivan (Jamaica, N.Y.) scored a game- and season-high 20 points and hauled in eight rebounds, but the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team couldn't withstand the offensive output from the Merrimack Warriors, who took the victory by a score of 85-74 on Tuesday night from Volpe Gymnasium in North Andover, Mass. With the loss, the Owls fell to 6-15 overall and 2-14 in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Merrimack came out firing in the first half, knocking down nine three-pointers on 13 attempts (69.2%). The Owls used a late 11-2 run, propelled by five points from sophomore guard Trevor Harris (Nanuet, N.Y.), to pull within two points of the Warriors at 40-38. Each team would tack an on a pair of additional field goals as the half wound down, and the Owls entered the intermission trailing by a bucket, 45-43. Senior forward Ktrice McNeill (Bronx, N.Y.) led all scorers in the opening stanza with 15 points. Harris added eight points as well as a team-high four assists. Junior guard Justin Gardenhire (Rosedale, N.Y.) and Sullivan each netted seven points, and junior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.), junior guard Derrick Corbett (New Haven, Conn.) and sophomore guard Tocari Davis (Bloomfield, Conn.) each chipped in two points. Freshman Darin Mency led the Warriors offense with 13 points, including three of the team's nine trifectas. Sophomore Darren Duncan netted eight points as well as a game-best nine assists.

In the second half, neither team produced any significant runs, but the Merrimack offense kept slowly increasing their its lead through ball control and stellar shooting from the field, three point range, and the line.

For the game, McNeill finished up with 17 points to join Sullivan in double figures. Trevor Harris was the Owls' leading assist man with five dimes. Merrimack wrapped up with six scorers in double figures, led by Micky Burtnyk with 19 and Duncan with 14 points as well as 11 assists.

The Owls return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9 as they travel to Colchester, Vt. To challenge Saint Michael's College in a Northeast-10 Conference clash. The action tips off from the Ross Sports Center at 3:30 p.m.