NORTH ANDOVER, Massachusetts- The American International College men's basketball team paid a visit to North Andover on Tuesday, January 24 for a midweek showdown with the Warriors of Merrimack. The Yellow Jackets fell on a buzzer-beater, 78-77.

Rasheed Howard and Pitts-Young each had 22 points. Howard added four rebounds while Pitts-Young had five. Juwan Moody added 17 points and four assist.

AIC got the game going scoring on five of the first six possessions to take the 11-4 lead in the opening four minutes. At the 15-minute mark with an 11-6 lead, Pitts-Young nailed a three from the right corner to extend the lead. The Yellow Jackets continued to control the first seven minutes of the game as Rasheed Howard hit the old-school three-point play to make it a 17-6 game.

At the nine minute mark, the Yellow Jackets had built their lead to 14, 29-15. At this point, AIC was shooting 83 percent from behind the arc, 5-for-6, including Pitts-Young, who was 5-5. Merrimack then went on a 4-0 run in thirty seconds and forced an AIC timeout. At the half, the Yellow Jackets led, 40-35.

The Warriors wasted no time playing catch-up as they tied the game at 40 at the 19:41 mark. They had the first lead of the half with 15:05 to go in the game, 49-47. Merrimack continued to build its lead, and at the 12-minute mark it was 58-49.

Down 10 with 4:32 left, the Yellow Jackets made a run. Moody started the 8-0 run to make it a two-point game with 1:46 left in the game. The Warriors went to the line and made the first, but missed the second. On the following AIC possession, Howard grabbed the offensive board and put it back up to make it a one-point game with 55 seconds left. With 27 seconds left, the Warriors hit a three from the right corner to make it a four-point game.

Moody answered with a three of his own. The Warriors got the ball in bounds and fouled the Merrimack player. They missed both shots, and the Yellow Jackets rebounded the ball, but stepped out of bounds. The Warriors turned the ball over and Pitts-Young broke away and made the layup in transition to take the one-point lead. The Warriors pushed the ball up the court and missed the shot, but Anthony Barry got the rebound. Barry put the ball up just milliseconds before the light went off and the ball found the bottom of the net to win 78-77.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Saturday, January 28 when they host St. Michael's at 3:30 p.m.