Syracuse, N.Y. – Jordan Derkack tallied 19 points to lead Merrimack College to a 66-62 victory over the Le Moyne College men's basketball team in Northeast Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.

Graduate student guard Kaiyem Cleary (Manchester, England/Redemption Christian Academy (NY)/Florida Southern/Florida Southwestern/Ball State) led the Dolphins offensively in the setback with 16 points, all of which came in the second half, while adding four rebounds. Redshirt freshman forward Nate Fouts (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles/Kimball Union Academy) netted 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

Derkack, the leading scorer in the conference at 17.9 per game, tallied 11 of his game-high point total in the first half, while adding seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Adam Clark totaled 10 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

The Warriors scored the first eight points of the game, including five from Derkack, and held the Dolphins without a field goal over the opening 5:15 of the contest.

Following Le Moyne's first basket of the game to make it 8-5, the Warriors rattled off 22 of the next 29 points over 10 minutes to open up a 30-12 lead with 4:19 remaining. Eight different Merrimack players scored in the span, led by five points from Devon Savage. Freshman guard AJ Dancler (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport) scored five of Le Moyne's seven points in the span.

The Dolphins countered with the next seven points to pull within 11 with 2:30 to go. Fouts started the run with a jumper, sophomore guard Trent Mosquera (Brookline, Mass./Belmont Hill School) drained a three-pointer and then graduate student guard Isaiah Salter (Charlotte, N.C./Central Cabarrus/American International/Adelphi) hit a jumper.

Derkack scored twice in the paint in the last 90 seconds to give Merrimack a 34-19 lead at halftime.

Le Moyne scored the first five points of the second half on a Cleary three-pointer and a lay-up by junior forward Ocypher Owens (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Christian Prep/Indian River State) to cut its deficit to 10.

After the teams traded points over the next 2:47, Merrimack rattled off a 12-2 run to take its largest lead of the game at 53-32 with 10:35 remaining. Jacob O'Connell and Devon Savage started the run with three-pointers and then Adam Clark converted a pair of jumpers around a dunk by Derkack.

Le Moyne answered with 13 straight points to cut its deficit to eight with 4:45 remaining. Graduate student guard Nate McClure (Houston, Texas / Concordia Lutheran/Texas State/State Fair C.C./IUPUI) ignited the run with a three-pointer, Fouts followed with one of his own in transition from the right wing, Cleary nailed a jumper, Fouts buried another three-pointer from the left wing and then McClure converted a jumper in the paint to get the Dolphins within single digits.

Following consecutive jumpers in the paint by Derkack in a span of just 33 seconds, Mosquera answered with a jumper and Cleary drained a three-pointer in transition to pull the Dolphins within 57-50 with 3:19 to play.

After Merrimack took a 59-50 lead into the final media timeout with 2:34 left, the Dolphins scored six straight points to close within 59-56 with 1:09 to go. Salter made two free throws, Dancler converted a lay-up and then Cleary connected on two foul shots.

Following a pair of free throws by Derkack with 49 seconds left, Cleary drained a three-pointer to make it a 61-59 game with 40 seconds remaining.

After Clark made the second of two free throws with 34 seconds to play, the Dolphins were able to get off a potentially game-tying three-pointer from the left wing with 24 seconds left, but it was off the mark and collected by the Warriors.

Jordan McKoy made a free throw with 22 seconds left and followed with a fast-break lay-up off a steal with 12 seconds left to push the Merrimack lead to 65-59.

After Cleary and Samba Diallo each made one free throw, Salter finished off the game's scoring at the buzzer off a put-back of a missed three-pointer.

Le Moyne (6-10, 1-1 NEC), which falls to 18-19 all-time against the Warriors, is back in action at home on Monday against Sacred Heart University at 7:00 p.m. The Dolphins lead the all-time series with the Pioneers, 8-5, including 6-0 at home as well as 5-3 when the teams were members of the NECC.