The Merrimack men’s basketball team, currently leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), will host Siena on Friday at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and could secure the Warriors a share of the MAAC Regular Season Championship.
If Iona defeats Saint Peter’s in a game scheduled for 7 p.m., a Merrimack victory would clinch at least a share of the regular season title. This would mark Merrimack’s first MAAC Regular Season Championship in just its second year in the league, and its fourth regular season championship in seven years.
Since joining the MAAC last season, Merrimack has posted a 28-8 conference record, which is the best in the league over that period. Quinnipiac follows with a 26-11 record and Marist with 23-14. The Warriors have been atop the conference standings for 31 out of their last 37 MAAC games.
Kevair Kennedy recently scored 24 points against Quinnipiac, marking his seventh game with more than 20 points in his last nine appearances. Ernest Shelton contributed 12 points as Merrimack secured its sixth consecutive win and eighth in its last nine games.
Earlier this season, Merrimack defeated Siena 63-59 after building an early lead. In that matchup, Ernest Shelton scored 17 points while Kevair Kennedy added 14.
Kennedy is positioned to potentially earn both MAAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors. He recently won both weekly awards from the conference and has now received five Rookie of the Week recognitions. Kennedy leads all players in scoring during conference games at 20.1 points per game and is second overall at 17.7 points per game. He has reached double figures in all but one collegiate game, including each of his last 25 outings. Additionally, he leads Merrimack and ranks fourth in assists (4.1 per game) and steals (2.0 per game) within the conference.
Ernest Shelton, who played high school basketball alongside Kennedy at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, is second on the team with an average of 15.9 points per game—sixth-best in the MAAC. Shelton transferred from Gannon University and has scored at least ten points in most games this season while maintaining a consistent presence beyond the three-point line.
Merrimack has won eight of its last nine contests and boasts a home record of nine wins without a loss this season. The team remains undefeated when scoring at least seventy points and holds second place in turnover margin within the conference (+2.74).
The Warriors’ defensive strategy continues to limit opponents’ scoring opportunities; they have allowed more than sixty-six points only four times over their past nineteen games and have held teams under sixty points six times during their recent stretch.
In recent matchups, Merrimack has limited several opponents—including Marist, Iona, Saint Peter’s, Sacred Heart, and Rider—to well below their typical scoring averages. Over their past fifteen games, opponents have averaged just sixty-two points against them.
Tye Dorset is averaging nearly thirteen points per contest during conference play and has scored ten or more points in eight of his last eleven games while maintaining a streak of making three-pointers across seven consecutive games.
