January 27, 2007
MATT COOPER AND LAURENCE EKPERIGIN POST DOUBLE-DOUBLES
AS LE MOYNE MEN'S BASKETBALL SINKS MERRIMACK 80-62
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Matt Vassil (Dalton, Pa./Abington Heights) scored a career-high
19 points to lead Le Moyne to an 80-62 win over Merrimack in a
Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball game at Grant Court. The
Dolphins (9-11, 6-9 Northeast-10) landed four in double figures to
stop Merrimack's (6-15, 5-11 Northeast-10) win streak at two and
sweep the regular season series with the Warriors.
Vassil, making his first career start, hit six-of-10 shots from
the field, two-of-six from 3-point range and converted five-of-six
free throws for his 19 points. He scored 14 points in the second
half. Senior Matt Cooper (Fulton, N.Y./Fulton)
scored 17 points to push his career total to 1,268 points. Junior
Jonathan Joshua (Inglewood, Calif./Inglewood)
scored 14 points and Laurence Ekperigin (Courtlandt Manor,
N.Y./Walter Panas) netted 11 points.
The Dolphins outrebounded their smaller guests 45-27. Cooper and
Ekperigin also reached double figures in rebounds. Cooper's
game-high 12 boards pushed his career total to 603 rebounds (15th
on the all-time list). He became the program's 11th member of the
1,200-point, 600-rebound club. Ekperigin posted his first
double-double with 10 rebounds to go along with 11 points.
David Kennedy paced three from Merrimack in double figures. He
scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half. Kenny Jones scored 14
points and Gerry Corcoran netted 11. Jones grabbed a team-high
eight rebounds.
Merrimack carried the lead for much of the first nine minutes of
the opening half. The Warriors hopped out to leads of 13-7 and
20-15 before Le Moyne spurted back into the game. Cooper converted
a pair of free throws at the 7:47 mark to cap a 13-1 run that put
Le Moyne up 28-21 with 7:47 remaining. The Dolphins scored the
final seven points of the first half to take a 43-31 lead into the
intermission.
Le Moyne raced out of the intermission on a 15-4 run to extend
its lead to an insurmountable 23 points at 58-35 with 13:25
remaining. The Dolphins kept their lead in double digits the rest
of the way.
Le Moyne hosts Saint Michael's on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in one
of two remaining regular season home games. The Dolphins will also
host UMass Lowell on Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.
LE MOYNE 80, MERRIMACK 62
MERRIMACK (6-15, 5-11 NE-10)
David Kennedy 5-9 4-4 16; Kenny Jones 6-19 2-2 14; Gerry Corcoran
4-10 2-2 11; Carlos Brown 4-7 0-0 9; Darren Duncan 0-4 6-7 6;
Chiedozie Offiah 1-3 0-0 2; Jared Brownlee 1-1 0-0 2; Tom Sipsey
1-7 0-0 2; Craig Woehnker 0-2 0-0 0; Jeff Hansbury 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 22-62 14-15 62.
LE MOYNE (9-11, 6-9 NE-10)
Matt Vassil 6-10 5-6 19; Matt Cooper 6-9 5-5 17; Jonathan Joshua
4-8 5-6 14; Laurence Ekperigin 5-8 1-5 11; Dan Cromwell 4-7 0-0 8;
Phil Schoff 1-3 3-4 6; Durett Miles 2-3 1-3 5; Mark Covin 0-4 0-1
0. Totals 28-52 20-30 80.
Merrimack..................... 31
31 - 62
Le Moyne...................... 43 37
- 80
3-point goals--Merrimack 4-28 (David Kennedy 2-4; Gerry Corcoran
1-5; Carlos Brown 1-2; Tom Sipsey 0-6; Craig Woehnker 0-2; Darren
Duncan 0-1; Kenny Jones 0-8), Le Moyne 4-14 (Matt Vassil 2-6;
Jonathan Joshua 1-5; Phil Schoff 1-2; Mark Covin 0-1). Fouled
out--Merrimack-Chiedozie Offiah; Darren Duncan, Le Moyne-None.
Rebounds--Merrimack 27 (Kenny Jones 8), Le Moyne 45 (Matt Cooper
12). Assists--Merrimack 11 (Darren Duncan 8), Le Moyne 11 (Durett Miles 4). Total fouls--Merrimack 24, Le Moyne 14. Technical
fouls--Merrimack-None, Le Moyne-None. A-400
