Grabbing a 10-point second-half lead, the top-seeded Merrimack College men hung on and survived in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals on Sunday night.
Marist, the No. 5 seed, pushed the Warriors to the limit, actually taking the lead in the closing moments, before Tye Dorset delivered the game-winning three-pointer in a dramatic, 58-57, victory.
The Warriors, now 23-10, will advance to the title game against the winner of Sunday night’s late semi between Fairfield and Siena. A trip to the NCAA March Madness will be on the line when they tip off in the championship game on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. in Atlantic City.
Even after Dorset had his three for the one-point margin, Merrimack had to survive four different Marist shot attempts in a wild final 85 seconds.
Dorset was a monster all night, leading the Warriors with 23 points.
“If you’re around him every day … you love for a kid like that to have some success,” Warrior coach Joey Gallo said on the ESPN+ broadcast afterwards.
Freshman Kevair Kennedy added 16, and Ernest Shelton had 10.
Merrimack women fall
Earlier on Sunday, the Merrimack women were eliminated in the MAAC semis, 65-48, by Fairfield.
Se’Lah Reddick had 17 points to pace the Warriors, and Paloma Garcia added 10.