The Merrimack Warriors and the Bryant Bulldogs meet Thursday in college basketball action form Chace Athletic Center. Merrimack is currently 8-12 on the year and lost to Wagner in their last game. As for Bryant, they’re sitting at 10-8 and coming off a win over St. Francis BK. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Merrimack posted a 4-8 run in their first dozen games this year, then hit a four-game win streak over Maine, St. Francis BK, LIU and Central CT State. Since then it’s been an 0-4 run with losses to St. Francis PA, Mount St. Mary’s, Bryant and Wagner.
Matched up against Wagner on Sunday, the Warriors hung around in the first half with a 30-28 deficit. Merrimack was outscored 41-29 from there in a 71-57 loss. Tops on the team in scoring was Jordan Minor on 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Over on the Bryant side, they hit a spotty 4-7 stretch to start the year. The Bulldogs have been on a 6-1 run since, however. The wins in that time have come over Central CT State, Sacred Heart, Mount St. Mary’s, St. Francis PA, Merrimack and St. Francis BK.
In the St. Francis BK matchup back on Sunday, the Bulldogs posted a big 51-33 advantage by halftime and cruised the rest of the way in an 85-68 win. Peter Kiss was the leading team scorer on 25 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Bulldogs are 4-1 ATS in their last five overall and 4-1 ATS in their last five Thursday games. The over is 6-2 in Bryant’s last eight overall.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are 0-4 ATS in their last four overall and 4-1 ATS in their last five Thursday games. The under is 4-1 in Merrimack’s last five Thursday games.
PICK: I’m going to stick with Bryant. The Bulldogs are on a nice scoring run lately. They’ve hit 73 or more points in each of their last nine games, going 7-2 in that time. The last time these teams met up wasn’t that long ago—January 21. In that game, Bryant shot 47.4 percent from the floor with a 43-27 rebounding advantage in a 79-63 victory. Merrimack didn’t do too badly on offense themselves (45.6 percent shooting) but just couldn’t keep up the pace. I like Bryant to repeat the winning feat on a cover in this rematch.