St. Francis, Merrimack meet in conference play

St. Francis (NY) (8-9, 8-8) vs. Merrimack (8-6, 8-6)

Hammel Court, North Andover, Massachusetts; Thursday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: NEC foes meet as St. Francis (NY) battles Merrimack. St. Francis (NY) came up short in an 88-82 game to Sacred Heart in its last outing. Merrimack lost 76-60 to Bryant in its most recent game.

SUPER SENIORS: St. Francis (NY) has benefited heavily from its seniors. Chauncey Hawkins, Travis Atson, Unique McLean and Rob Higgins have combined to account for 66 percent of the team's scoring this year and 77 percent of all Terriers points over the team's last five games.

FACILITATING THE OFFENSE: Mikey Watkins has made or assisted on 47 percent of all Merrimack field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has accounted for 15 field goals and 17 assists in those games.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Warriors have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Terriers. Merrimack has an assist on 41 of 68 field goals (60.3 percent) over its past three outings while St. Francis (NY) has assists on 43 of 91 field goals (47.3 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: St. Francis (NY) is ranked second among NEC teams with an average of 77.9 points per game. The Terriers have averaged 81.8 points per game over their last five games.

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