Merrimack takes on conference rival Rider

Rider Broncs (1-5) at Merrimack Warriors (3-6)

North Andover, Massachusetts; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Kevair Kennedy and Merrimack host Caleb Smith and Rider in MAAC action Thursday.

The Warriors have gone 1-0 in home games. Merrimack has a 1-5 record against opponents over .500.

The Broncs are 0-4 on the road. Rider has a 1-4 record against opponents above .500.

Merrimack is shooting 36.7% from the field this season, 7.1 percentage points lower than the 43.8% Rider allows to opponents. Rider averages 61.2 points per game, 14.9 fewer points than the 76.1 Merrimack allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ernest Shelton is scoring 16.6 points per game and averaging 2.7 rebounds for the Warriors. Kennedy is averaging 13.8 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 45.2%.

Aasim Burton is shooting 24.1% from beyond the arc with 1.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Broncs, while averaging 11.5 points and 1.5 steals. Zion Cruz is averaging 11.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.