Syracuse, N.Y. – James Kennedy registered a double-double to lead Merrimack College to an 80-65 victory over the Le Moyne College men's basketball team in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.

Sophomore forward Daniel Kaigler (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden/Gannon) led the Dolphins in points and rebounds with 13 and eight, respectively. Freshman forward Brandon Fischer (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) came off the bench to record a career-best 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field in a season-high 18 minutes, while adding career-highs of four rebounds and two assists.

Kennedy tallied a season-high 17 points and pulled down a career-best 18 rebounds, including 11 in the second half. Gelvis Solano, the fourth-leading scorer in the Northeast-10, scored a game-high 21 points, including 11 in the second half. JT Strickland recorded 18 points (10 in the first half), four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Troy Hammel posted 14 points (12 in the second half), four assists and four rebounds.

After Solano and sophomore guard Russell Sangster (Rockville, Md./Bullis School) traded points in the first two minutes of the game, Merrimack scored six of the next eight points to open up an 11-6 lead with 16:00 left.

The Dolphins answered with six straight points and 11 of the next 14 to take a three-point lead with 12:10 to go. Sangster had the first four points and then Fischer made two lay-ups around a three-pointer by junior forward Stan Buczek (Port Jervis, N.Y./Burke Catholic).

Following two points from each team over the next two minutes, the Warriors rattled off 12 straight points to take a 28-19 lead with 5:45 left. Kennedy accounted for half of the points, while Solano added three.

Le Moyne responded with a 6-2 spurt to get within five, but Kennedy and Strickland followed with baskets in the paint to push the margin back to nine with 2:55 remaining. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Tanner Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland/Bridgton Academy) with 3:45 left to get the Dolphins within 30-25 snapped a drought of 7:09 without a field goal.

After Strickland's lay-up, the Dolphins tallied six of the next seven points to get within four. Sophomore guard Anthony Richards (New Castle, Pa./New Castle/West Virginia Wesleyan) buried a three-pointer and then senior guard Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) recorded a conventional three-point play, which made him the 24th Dolphin to eclipse 1200 career points.

Troy McLaughlin made a jumper with 31 seconds left to give the Warriors a 37-31 lead at halftime.

The teams went back and forth over the opening seven minutes of the second half, with Merrimack's lead bouncing between six and 11 points and settling at 51-45 with 13:00 left.

Following a Fischer lay-up, the Warriors scored nine straight points and 14 of the next 17 over 3:52 to take their largest lead of the game, 65-48, with 9:08 left. Strickland and Solano each scored five points in the span, while Hammel and Kennedy added baskets.

Le Moyne responded with five straight points and 16 of the next 23 to trim its deficit to eight with 3:43 remaining. Kaigler registered eight consecutive points in the span, while Fischer started it with a lay-up and Richards and Buczek nailed three-pointers.

Merrimack closed out the game with eight of the last nine points over the final 3:20. Solano bookended the streak with a lay-up and a tomahawk dunk.
 
Le Moyne (5-10, 3-7 NE-10), which has dropped five straight games for the first time since February 2012, returns to the hardwood on Wednesday at Saint Michael's College at 7:30 p.m.