COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michaels' women's (5-1, 3-0 NE-10) and men's (4-1, 2-1 NE-10) basketball teams split contests with the Warriors of Merrimack Wednesday evening at the Ross Sports Center in Colchester. The women won their third straight conference game by a score of 58-54, while the men dropped a 92-90 thriller in the night-cap.
Despite a nine-point deficit at halftime, the Saint Michael's women opened the second half with a 23-8 run, led by sophomore forward Michelle Otey (Southborough, Mass./Southborough) and her 20 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Logan Pintka (Niskayuna, N.Y./Colonie) was a spark off the bench with 10 points and four rebounds. It was Pintka's third straight game in double-digits and fourth game with at least four boards. Senior guard Allison Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) grabbed 10 rebounds while chipping in five points to help Saint Michael's to their fifth overall win.
For Merrimack (2-3, 0-1 NE-10), junior guard Kara Borelli (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook) led the way with 11 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the second half. Guard Casey Miller (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) also added 11 points and six steals in the Warriors opening Northeast-10 contest this season. Senior guard Amanda Shannon (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) also fouled out with four minutes remaining with eight points and eight rebounds in the loss.
In men's basketball action, the currently 19th-ranked Purple Knights in the NABC/Division II National Poll were led by senior forward Brian Monahan's (Kinderhook, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) career-high 35 points. He also grabbed 13 rebounds in the men's first loss of the season. Junior forward Jon Zylstra (Uxbridge, Mass./Whitinsville Christian School) also tallied a career-high 20 points, nearly doubling his previous mark of 11. Off the bench, Tom Piotrkiewicz (Calais, France/Liberty Christian Academy) scored 10 points, all in the first half on 4-8 shooting. The Purple Knights reached their highest point total of the year of 90 points in the loss.
The Warriors (4-0, 1-0 NE-10) were led by sophomore point guard Darren Duncan (Briarwood, N.Y./Christ the King) and his 26 points and five assists. The freshman guard, Darin Mency (Hagerstown, Md./St. Johns Catholic Prep), chipped in 21 points and eight rebounds to help Merrimack to their first conference win of the season. Olatungie Lightfoot-Taylor (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence) also added 11 points and eight rebounds to control the paint for the Warriors.
Saint Michael's travels to Southern Connecticut on Saturday, December 1 to take on the Owls with women tipping off at 12 p.m. and the men at 2 p.m.
Merrimack also plays on Saturday at home versus American International with the women at 1 p.m. and the men to follow at 3 p.m. in North Andover
