Corcoran Rescues Warriors in Overtime; Warriors Defeat Dowling 98-95

Corcoran Rescues Warriors in Overtime; Warriors Defeat Dowling 98-95

NORTH ANDOVER, MA. – Gerry Corcoran posted seven points in overtime to lead the Merrimack men’s basketball team to the thrilling 98-95 overtime victory over Dowling College Tuesday afternoon at the Volpe Gym.

Trailing by as much as five in overtime, Corcoran drained two three-pointers and sandwiched a blocked shot on the defensive side in between to give his team a lead they would never relinquish. He then sank a free throw with eight seconds remaining to ice the game.

Merrimack led for most of the second half after trailing 37-31 at the half, but relinquished the lead late as Micky Burtnyk missed two free-throws with 12.6 seconds remaining and his team leading 84-81. Genc Selimi then came the other way and drained a three-pointer with five seconds left to tie the score and send the game into overtime.

Burtnyk gave the Warriors the lead at 49-47 at 12:07 of the second half as he finished a fast-break with a lay-up after Darren Duncan forced a steal.

A three-point play by Duncan with 2:08 remaining gave Merrimack a six-point lead at 78-72, but Dowling never gave up. David Deagers was dominant for the visitors, as he tallied 36 points and 11 rebounds, but had six turnovers. Dowling had 38 points in the paint to Merrimack’s 26.

Six players posted double figures for the Warriors, led by 20 points from freshman Darin Mency, who was named the Northeast-10 Freshman of the Week earlier Tuesday. Burtynk tallied 17 points, seven assists, and six steals, while David Kennedy had 13 points off the bench in 31 minutes.

Merrimack (3-0) will open its conference schedule on Wednesday November 28th at Saint Michael’s at 7:30 p.m.