The Friars returned from their trip to Mohegan Sun and defeated the Merrimack Warriors 71-57 at the AMP Wednesday night. It was Ed Croswell, who led the Friars with 17 points, but PC showed their balanced attack with three others in double figures. While some (like the Crier) expected a larger margin of victory after this past weekend’s trip to Mohegan Sun, the Friars should be happy with the end result.
Bynum Plays Facilitator– Jared Bynum averaged 14.5 points in the two games at Mohegan Sun but the Friars finished 0-2. Jared didn’t shoot it great this past weekend and one would think he’d try to get his tonight. That was not the case, as Bynum only shot the ball three times but racked up 6 assists. Honestly, this is leadership. You have a guy who could use a big scoring game for his psyche yet defers to getting his teammates back on track.
Croswell Cleaners– Ed Croswell bounced back from the weekend where he shot 5/13 to a 17 point, 7 rebound performance. Croswell shot 7/10 from the floor and did his typical dirty work, while scoring on a few post ups as well. If Ed can be this assertive in the paint it can open up space on the perimeter.
Getting Ziggy With It– Friar fans expected a larger margin of victory but a lot of that was due to Ziggy Reid. Reid had 21 points on 3/5 shooting from three. Ziggy reminded me a lot of Jae Crowder with his inside outside game at the collegian level. The Friars can’t be thrilled with giving up 10 three pointers tonight, but they hit some tough shots. You have to give them credit as well.
Where’s The Energy? Besides Devin Carter, this was somewhat of a lifeless game from the Friars. We get that it’s a Wednesday match-up against Merrimack, but there appears to be no joy or energy emanating from the players.
Rotation Still Up for Debate – The Friars went 9 deep against Merrimack, much to the dismay of The Crier. Breed and Pierre saw an uptick in minutes, at 19 and 15, respectively, so it appears having more ball handlers on the court is trending in the right direction. The Moore/Castro minute distribution continues to confuse us. Moore received 11 minutes, while Castro only received 5. The most head scratching component was Floyd Jr. not seeing any burn after quality minutes against St. Louis. We don’t know what to make of the rotation, to be honest.
The Friars are back in action Saturday against Columbia at the AMP. To all of those loyal followers of the Crier, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!