Mikey Watkins knocked down a three-pointer with 34 seconds left on Tuesday evening, lifting the Merrimack College Warriors to a 49-47 win over the Maine Black Bears in men’s non-conference basketball at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
After Merrimack scored the first six points of the game, Maine shrugged off a 0-5 start from the floor by going on a 17-2 run to take a 17-8 lead with 8:43 left in the first half. The Warriors tightened up the defense and ended the opening 20 minutes on a 17-4 spurt taking the lead back on a Watkins jumper, and headed to the locker room with a 25-21 advantage at the halftime break. MC (5-8) scored the first four points of the second half for their biggest lead of the game 29-21, before Maine ran off eight straight capped off a Vukasin Masin jumper to tie it. Two layups in the paint by Ata Turgut made it 35-32 Black Bears with 11:36 left. After the teams swapped leads once again, LeChaun DuHart put the hosts up 47-44 with a three-pointer with 1:36 remaining. Watkins got a layup to go in the paint to cut it to a point, and then a turnover by Masic gave the ball back to the Warriors. After Merrimack missed a shot and got an offensive rebound, Watkins knocked in the eventual game winner from long range. A three-pointer by Adefolalrin Adetogun would miss on the other end in the closing seconds, but after a foul in the rebounding action Ziggy Reid would miss two at the line with two seconds to go to give the Bears one more chance. A game winning three-point attempt by Masic though missed at the buzzer, as Maine (3-7) fell to 0-7 against Division I teams this season.
DuHart and Adetogun had 10 points a piece in the loss for Maine. Masic and Turgut each had seven points and six rebounds, while Sam Ihekwoaba also contributed seven points. Jordan Minor led Merrimack with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Watkins along with Malik Edmead chipped in nine points a piece. Maine will play their final non-conference game of the season next Wednesday 12/29 at 7 p.m. when they travel to battle Rutgers.
