RINDGE, N.H. — The Merrimack College men's basketball team used a 28-9 run late in the second half to overcome a 12-point deficit to defeat Franklin Pierce 83-77 yesterday afternoon.

Merrimack trailed 50-43 with 9:43 remaining in regulation but took a 54-52 lead behind two 3-pointers from Craig Woehnker. It extended the lead to as much as 12, at 71-59 with 3:15 remaining, led by 14 free throws from junior captain Darren Duncan ,who tallied a game-high 26 points and eight assists. Sophomore Darin Mency added four 3-pointers and 24 points.

Merrimack shot 50 percent from behind the arc on 5-of-10 shooting and 75 percent from the free throw line and scored 51 points in the final 20 minutes for the comeback road victory.

Merrimack (7-1, 5-1 NE-10) will compete in the Bridgeport Holiday Tournament against the host Purple Knights Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. and against Post University Dec. 30 at 4 p.m.

Women take a whipping

The Merrimack women's basketball team concluded its pre-holiday schedule with a 76-44 loss to 23rd-ranked Franklin Pierce.

The game was supposed to feature a matchup of the conference's two top scorers in Merrimack's Amanda Shannon of North Andover and Franklin Pierce's Johannah Leedham, but Shannon was limited to a season-low six points while Leedham did not play.

Freshman Hannah DeGraffinreed tallied 11 points and eight rebounds while Casey Miller also finished with 11 but she committed eight turnovers.

Franklin Pierce scored 39 points off 26 Merrimack turnovers as the Ravens improved to 5-3 (4-3 NE-10) on the season. The Warriors (2-6, 1-4 NE-10) travel to Washington to face Western Washington Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. and Seattle Pacific Jan. 2 at 5 p.m.