SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College men's basketball faltered against Merrimack College in Northeast-10 action Tuesday night at the Butova Gymnasium, 105-81.
With the loss AIC falls to 7-12 overall and 3-10 in league play, while with the win Merrimack improves to 10-9 and 6-8 in NE-10 tilts.
The Warriors opened the game on an 8-0 run spanning just 2:11 of play. Merrimack's Troy Hammel knocked down knocked down three of those early shots for the quick advantage.
After a timeout to regroup, AIC senior Trahmier Burrell (Albany, N.Y.) hit a timely trey to get his team on the board. On the next possession, classmate Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) used an inbounds pass in the corner to launch a three that drew nothing but net and cut the lead to one possession.
Dobbs later hit a pair of three's on back-to-back possessions to claw the Yellow Jackets back, 16-13, but the Warriors teed off on a quick 17-2 run that took just 3:07 off the clock to amass a sizable lead midway through the half, 33-15. Merrimack was shooting 75.0 percent over the first 10 minutes of play in the half and finished it shooting 55.6 percent (14-27).
The Yellow jackets chipped away at the deficit, compiling a quick 9-0 run of their own that featured a long three from junior Juwan Moody (Pontiac, Mich.). Dobbs fourth three of the half with 5:01 left cut the margin to 10, 42-32, but once again the Warriors got hot and finished the half the way they started, on a 13-5 run.
Dobbs hit a jumper out of the break to cut it 16, but that was as close as it got from there. Merrimack's James Kennedy gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the night, 30, with 8:01 left.
Dobbs finished with a game-high 17 points, while freshman Jayvon Pitts-Young (Portland, Maine) chipped in 12 and Moody 11.
Merrimack won the battle of the boards, 41-32, with Kennedy corralling a game-high 11 missed shots. Preseason All-American Gelvis Solano led the game with 24 points.
AIC returns to action Saturday, Jan. 30 when they head to Saint Michael's College, Tip-off with the Purple Knights is slated for 3:30 p.m.
