North Andover, Mass. (12/31/17) Dominican College Head Men's Basketball Coach, Joe Clinton, earned his 400th career coaching victory this afternoon as the Chargers topped host, Merrimack College, 75-60, in a non-conference game played on Hammel Court.

In a matchup featuring two teams in the latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll with Merrimack ranked fifth and Dominican in the eighth spot, both teams were looking to improve upon their overall records and end 2017 on a high note.

MC took a 13-6 lead with 13:41 remaining in the first half, forcing a Dominican 30 second timeout.  Sophomore Daniel Grant (Middletown, N.Y.) came out of the timeout and hit a jump shot to ignite a 17-0 tear, ended by a three-point bucket from Daraja Rodwell (Baldwin, N.Y.), to give DC a 23-13 advantage with under seven minutes remaining in the first half.  The Warriors cut the lead in half (26-21) with 3:15 left, but Grant followed with five consecutive points to rebuild a double-digit lead (31-21) and the Chargers took a 31-23 edge into the locker room at the intermission.

Dominican shot 14-28 (50%) from the floor in the first stanza and went 3-7 (42.9%) from the three-point arc.

Junior Sayon Charles (Staten Island, N.Y.) recorded 12 points and five rebounds in the first frame, while Rodwell had seven assists and Grant netted 11 points.

DC saw their lead diminish to 35-30 early in the final half and responded with a 12-5 run to regain 47-35 advantage with 13 minutes left in regulation.  The Chargers would lead by as many as 21 points (74-53), following two free throws from Michael Richardson (Hackensack, N.J.), with 1:30 to play as they went on to the 75-60 victory.

Grant led four players in double figures with 21 points, while tying his career high with five steals and five rebounds.

Charles finished with the double-double of a season high 20 points and 10 caroms and Rodwell also tallied a double-double of 14 points, a career high 10 assists and seven boards. 

Freshman Richardson scored 10 points off the bench.

This was the fourth all-time meeting between these teams with the Warriors winning the previous three contests.  With the win Dominican improves to 9-4 overall, while the Warriors conclude the calendar year with a 9-4 mark.

The Chargers return to action on Saturday, January 6th as they host Caldwell University in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest on Coach Baxter Court.