Joe Gallo and the Merrimack College men’s basketball team are preparing for the MAAC Men’s Basketball Championships in Atlantic City as the tournament’s top seed. The Warriors finished the regular season with a 21-10 overall record and a 17-3 mark in conference play.
Merrimack’s roster features several award winners, including the MAAC Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year. The team will face No. 9 Sacred Heart on Friday night at 6 p.m. ET.
Gallo outlined his approach ahead of the tournament: “Stick with our plan, follow our formula.” He emphasized that their strategy is based on strong defense and discipline. “We’re going out there like it’s three road games,” Gallo said. “The way we’ve played has traveled well, and we just got to stick to that.”
During the regular season, Merrimack led the conference in turnover margin and blocked shots while ranking second in steals. Their defensive efforts have consistently disrupted opposing offenses.
Gallo described his team’s priorities: “Defending. Taking care of the basketball. Being unselfish. Expecting the unexpected and not overreacting to a turnover, a missed shot, or a foul call. Moving on to the next play,” he said. “I think that teams that do that usually the score takes care of itself.”
Junior KC Ugwuakazi was named Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league with 2.1 blocks per game. Freshman guard Kevair Kennedy and junior Tye Dorset also ranked among league leaders in steals, helping hold opponents to 42 percent shooting from the field.
The team’s defensive philosophy is captured by their ‘Make Chaos’ slogan. Gallo explained its origin: “It originally was a play off of the MC,” he said regarding ‘Make Chaos.’ “But it’s our defensive identity. We’re trying to get 35 deflections every game and just make it chaotic for other teams and make them have to play a little faster, a little different, a little more chaotic than they’re used to playing… When everybody is connected and flying around, it kind of looks like a spider web of a bunch of guys working on a string, trying to get the ball back from the other team.”
On offense, Kennedy made history as the first player in MAAC men’s basketball history to win both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors in one season. He averaged 18.5 points per game—the highest in the league—and was named First Team All-MAAC as well as an All-Rookie selection. Ernest Shelton joined him on First Team All-MAAC honors after finishing third in made three-pointers per game (2.9) and fifth in scoring average (15.9 points).
Despite being regular-season champions with multiple individual awards, Gallo said his team is not feeling extra pressure heading into postseason play: “No added pressure or anything like that, just kind of business as usual,” he said.
