Sharp shooting, defense lead men's basketball to 20-point win at Merrimack

Tuesday, December 7

North Andover, Mass.

7:00 PM

Brown University

8-4,0-0Ivy League

Merrimack

4-6,0-0NEC

Brown

Merrimack

Sharp shooting, defense lead men's basketball to 20-point win at Merrimack

12/7/2021 10:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – The Brown men's basketball team won its fourth straight with a convincing 76-56 victory over Merrimack Tuesday night at Hammel Court.

"We did a fantastic job both offensively and defensively tonight," head coach Mike Martin said. "We attacked their zone with good interior passing, confident shooting, and offensive rebounding. At the other end, we tried our best to make them shoot difficult shots and, for the most part, we did that consistently throughout the game."

The Brown starting five combined to shoot 62.1% from the floor on the night. Jaylan Gainey led the way with 17 points on a perfect 8-for-8 performance. He added five rebounds and two blocks. Kino Lilly Jr. and Paxson Wojcik were incredibly hot from the three-point line, going a combined 8-for-12. Lilly Jr. had 15 points on the night, while Wojcik ended with 14. Tamenang Choh chipped in 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Brown was able to limit the Warriors to a 17-of-50 (34%) shooting performance as the Bears were locked in on the defensive end. It would have looked even worse for Merrimack had it not been for a few late baskets after the outcome had already been decided.

The Bears were on fire from three to start the game as they hit six of their first seven from beyond the arc to open up a 22-6 lead just eight minutes in. Choh had one of the team's threes during the opening run, Wojcik had two, and Lilly Jr. sunk three.

As hot as they were on offense, the Bears were equally as tough to score against on the defensive end, limiting the Warriors to 11 points through the first 17 minutes of action. Merrimack would go on to score the final eight points of the opening half to go into the break with Brown up 35-19.

The Bears picked up where they left off to start the second half, quickly stretching the lead to 23 at the 16:39 mark.

A free throw by Noah Meren with just under seven minutes to play pushed Brown's lead to 28, its largest of the game, at 65-37.

The teams traded baskets over the final minutes, with a pair of free throws by Josh Watts ending up as the final Brown points of the night.

The Bears outrebounded the Warriors 41-21, including a 15-7 offensive rebounding advantage that led to 19 second-chance points for Brown compared to just five for Merrimack.