Joe Gallo is the king of Merrimack College. So much so that the Warriors gave away a T-shirt inspired by Drake Maye Lover’s hit outfit that said “I (Heart) Joe Gallo.” The love was on national television Friday night for Merrimack, which clinched a share of the MAAC championship in just its second season in the conference.
The Warriors defeated Siena 79-72 in overtime before a sellout crowd at ESPNU’s Lawler Arena. Merrimack is now 15-2 in the MAAC and 17-3 in its past 20 games, holding a three-game lead with three games remaining in the regular season. The Warriors need only one more win or one loss against St. Peter City to clinch the championship, and for Merrimack to eventually become the top seed in Atlantic City, a 15-5 tie won’t be enough.
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“These guys deserve it,” Gallo said. “We didn’t get a lot of hype in September and October. We’re getting everything now. We’re doing it through games, not through some offseason acquisitions or anything like that. So these guys deserve everything.”
I ranked Merrimack fifth in my preseason power rankings — and I know I should have ranked them higher. The Warriors were ranked seventh in the MAAC preseason poll. They didn’t have anyone named to the preseason All-MAAC team.
In hindsight, everything I wrote about Kevair Kennedy in the MAAC preview feels like an insult, even though I’m a huge fan of his game. In the win over Siena, Kennedy made 16 of 16 free throws and scored 32 points.
Todd Brogna, a star at Stonehill before transferring to Merrimack, delivered the dagger with his usage rate down nearly 10%. Kennedy entered the lane and found himself in the corner for a 3-pointer to extend the lead to five with less than a minute left in overtime.
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That game was a huge advertisement for the league. Siena played a good game and had a chance to win, but Merrimack showed too much in front of a raucous home crowd.
Now, they are the champions.
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We’re still three game days away, but we now know the ten teams that will compete for the MAAC men’s basketball championship in two weeks in Atlantic City. Thanks to Iona’s overtime victory over Saint Peter’s and Mount St. Mary’s victory over Niagara, the Purple Eagles were eliminated from MAAC tournament contention, joining their Western New York brothers Canisius and Rider as the three teams excluded.
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These three are also the three at the bottom of the current women’s standings, with Canisius and Niagara already eliminated.
That leaves us with 10: Merrimack, St. Peter’s, Siena, Quinnipiac, Marist, Mount St. Mary’s, Fairfield, Manhattan, Iona and Sacred Heart, in order.
So let’s talk Friday night.
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FAIRFIELD, Conn. — If you look closely, you can see faint glimmers of the 2023-24 Fairfield team on the floor of Mahoney Arena. Yes, the roster structure of this team is much different. No, this team doesn’t have four All-MAAC linebackers. But this team’s greatest strength is its dominance in transition.
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The Bucks demonstrated that in their 78-68 victory over crosstown rival Sacred Heart on Friday. Brayden Sparks hit four 3-pointers in the second half alone, and Fairfield made eight of 14 3-pointers after the break. Trailing by 10 points in the first half and leading by 15 points in the second half.
“We’ve done a good job of transitioning,” Sparks said. “We worked hard to lock down our defense, make sure our game plan was executed, finish the ball off the glass and get out in transition.”
That’s everything Fairfield failed to do consistently last year, and that’s why having Brandon Benjamin on this year’s roster is so important. He is the best rebounder in the MAAC and will likely be one of two freshmen on the All-MAAC team, the other being Merrimack’s Kevair Kennedy. Benjamin was the best player on the floor Friday night, and he looked much more versatile on the outside than he did earlier in the year.
He finished with 18 and 10 points, but also shut out Anquan Hill, Sacred Heart’s best player. He didn’t attempt a 3-pointer until late in the first half and struggled to get past Benjamin all night.
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“I just took it personally,” Benjamin said. “I know he’s their leading scorer. The last time we played he had over 17 points and I felt like I could do better.
“I was more aggressive than last time. (Last time) I basically just wanted to see what he was going to do and he just kept scoring. This time, I didn’t give him that chance.”
He switched to guard and held his position on the outside. Fairfield’s defenders were in front of Hill, making it difficult for SHU’s defenders to get the pass to him.
Casey said the Bucks are really simple on the defensive end, but it’s working thanks to improvements throughout the year, especially from Benjamin.
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“The ball coverage has improved,” Fairfield head coach Chris Casey said. “He’s become more proactive instead of reactive. And his X’ing, when we switch to someone, he’s more aware of the X’ing, and he does a really good job in those situations as well, being more aware and proactive.”
That’s how they stop. Then grab the rebound. Then it’s time to run.
Sparks drained an open 3-pointer from the corner of the half to push Fairfield’s lead to 12 points with less than eight minutes left, then Benjamin grabbed the rebound off Jaden Slaughter’s missed 3-pointer — a shot you’d accept — and passed the ball to Sparks, who dribbled in from the left wing for a 3-pointer.
“I always shoot open,” he said.
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This forced a Sacred Heart timeout and the game was out of control. It all marked Sacred Heart’s second more than four-minute scoring drought of the night, having had just one goal in the previous ten games.
Anthony Latina’s team committed eight second-half turnovers, which gave Fairfield more opportunities in transition but also wasted possession, especially in a half of the court where they couldn’t hit a 3-pointer.
“They disrupted us,” Latina said. “I think their switches bothered us a little bit. When you have eight turnovers in the half, 3-for-13 from 3-point range, and 11-for-27 from the field, you’ve got to make some plays. I thought we had some poor performances, and I thought it wore us down mentally.”
SHU took the lead quickly as Mekhi Conner dished out five assists in the first few minutes of the game but only had two assists the rest of the game. After the Trail Blazers took a 30-20 lead, Ryan Zahn hit a three-pointer for the Bucks, and Sacred Heart’s lead never got back to double digits. Fairfield tied the score to five at halftime and started the second quarter with a 13-2 run.
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It was the second time Fairfield had made double-digit 3-pointers in MAAC play, two of which came against SHU. They flipped the script from last year, with the Trail Blazers winning all three games against the Bucks to sweep the regular season series.
Casey will tell you the next game is already on, but he knows the importance of the White Out crowd and student portion of the game.
“I’m really excited about the fan base here,” Casey said. “It’s always great, but especially the students here, they do a great job of motivating us.”
The town was painted Fairfield red.
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Other games
Iona 72, St. Peter’s 64 (overtime): Take a deep breath, Iona fans. You won’t want to miss the first-year MAAC Championship under Dan Geriot. It’s been a wild rollercoaster season for the Gaels, but they now have wins at home against Siena, Merrimac and St. Peter’s and will likely end up as a top-three seed in Atlantic City. It’s also worth noting that the Gaels are just 2-6 on the road in MAAC play. Meanwhile, the Peacocks also struggled on the road, falling to 3-5 in MAAC road games. Iona reduced the rotation to mainly seven riders, with two other riders making brief cameos and riding Denver Anglin, Lamin Sabally, Kosy Akametu and CJ Anthony for 41, 41, 40 and 37 minutes respectively.
Marist 84, Manhattan 70: Justin Menard and Rhyjon Blackwell scored 30 and 22 points, respectively, as the Red Foxes earned their first win without Elijah Lewis. Maynard’s 30 points were a career high and solidified his status as an All-MAAC team contender. Marist has won three straight seasons in MAAC play for the first time since 2006, 2007 and 2008. This was the Red Foxes’ second-best offensive performance in MAAC play, scoring 1.31 points per possession. Manhattan’s three-game winning streak ends and Jasper will be .500 or worse in conference play, falling to 8-10. Terrence Jones scored 29 points in the loss.
Mount St. Mary’s 76, Niagara 63: It was the third straight win for the Mount, who posted a winning record in MAAC play for the first time this year. Luke McEldon scored a season-high 25 points and Mount shot 27 of 45 from beyond the arc. It only had to attempt 13 3-pointers.
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Niagara will not play in the MAAC tournament. This is the second year in a row that the Purple Eagles have missed the dance. Greg Paulus basically had to replace his entire roster three years in a row. When you attract players from a variety of levels like Niagara does, the odds of getting enough hits are really not in your favor. It’s certainly possible, but it’s not easy. The Purple Eagles have yet to win a MAAC game outside of Western New York this season, with their final chance coming Sunday against Rider. I wonder what NU will look like this offseason. Can they keep some key parts? Can they improve their talent?
Canisius 72, Cavaliers 66: The Broncos are currently 2-15 with three games remaining and could become the first team to win less than three games in the MAAC since Canisius in 2011-12. The Grief snapped an eleven-game losing streak on the back of hot shooting from Kahlil Singleton and a strong performance from Bryan Ndjonga.
